The North East Governors’ Forum has ended its 6th meeting in Damaturu, Yobe State, with an appeal to the Nigerian Government to establish a sustainable programme for handling repentant terrorists.
This was part of the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, chaired by the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, and read by Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State.
The forum noted the worrisome events of the kidnapping and farmer-herder clashes in the zone and therefore resolved to undertake necessary measures to curtail the menace.
After deliberating on a presentation by the Minister of Power on planned and ongoing Power Projects in the North East, the forum highlighted the challenges of steady power supply to the sub-region.
It called on the National Assembly and the Federal Government to make adequate budgetary provisions in the 2022 appropriation bill for the implementation of the project.
The North East Governors said that with the 2022 budget in its final stages, the National Assembly should look critically at the sub-region and make adequate budgetary provisions for all major capital projects in the Sub-region.
They appealed to the Federal Government to increase its investments in the sub-region to guarantee peace and economic prosperity, citing example with the non- commissioning of the Dadin Kowa and kashimbila hydropower plants, which they believed was contributing to the stalling development of the sub-region.
The North East Governors were also concerned that for nearly one year, Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital and its environs had been without electricity.
They urged the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, find a lasting solution to the challenge.
The Forum, however, noted the significant improvement in the security situation in the sub-region, with the mass surrender of Boko Haram fighters and commended the Federal Government for its various initiatives towards stabilising the sub-region.
The Governors of Borno, Gombe and Yobe attended the meeting, while their Deputies represented the Executive Governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, and Taraba States.
They resolved to have its next meeting from 9th to 11th March 2022 in Gombe.
Nnenna.O
