The 19 Northern States Governors in Nigeria have agreed to set aside ₦19bn monthly to strengthen security across the region.
The Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule stated this during the State Executive Council meeting in Lafia, the state capital.
He explained that the 19 Northern Governors, in their recent meeting in Kaduna State, agreed to contribute ₦1bn each every month for 12 months to enable them utilise the collective funds in addressing security challenges in the zone.
“We have to take this fight on our own to be able to secure our region, otherwise we will continue to talk about it and nothing will happen,” Sule said.
He said part of the money would be used to purchase equipment that will help in fighting insecurity across the zone, while another part will be used for the engagement and employment of youths who would be properly trained and equipped in form of vigilantes to support the system to work.
“We do not have a Director General (DG) or a management of the forum that would be able to work together for the management of these funds that we are talking about”.
“As a result of that, Chief Ezekiel Gomos, was selected and now engaged as DG and will be able to put his Executive Director together in order to manage those resources,” he noted.
According to Governor Sule, an additional ₦1.9bn will also be contributed separately to commence the building of the Secretariat in Kaduna State.
He explained further that the Northern governors have also agreed to contribute an additional ₦100,000,000 for 12 months separately for the foundation of the Northern Governors’ Secretariat in Kaduna.
“All the meetings of the northern governors held in Kaduna government house, but Kaduna Governor is kind enough to allocate a piece of land in a very strategic location where now we can also build our own Secretariat,”