Damaturu meeting: Northeast Governors beg FG to improve on security, power supply in sub-region
By Uthman Salami
The elected Governors of Northeast Nigeria have called on Federal government to improve on the security within the region.
Although, the Forum commended the Buhari-led administration efforts towards improving the security architecture of the sub-region occasioned by “the mass surrender of Boko Haram fighters,” they urged the Federal government to do more in areas of security and adequate power supply.
In a five-point communique issued yesterday which was signed by the Chairman and Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, the Governors also urged the Federal government “for the establishment of a sustainable programme for the handling of the repentant terrorists.”
While reading the Communique at the banquet hall of the Government House, Damaturu with his colleagues from Borno, Yobe and deputy givernors of Adamawa, Bauchi and Taraba states who represented their bosses at earlier closed-door deliberation, the Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya said the Forum further addressed power supply challenges bedeviling the sub-region, noting “with dismay the near one year lack of electricity in Maiduguri and its environs. It urged the Federal Government to urgently find a lasting solution.”
The communique partly read: “The Forum noted that kidnapping and farmer-herder clashes amongst others are worrisome in the sub-region and resolved to undertake the necessary measures to curtail the menace.
“The Forum deliberated on a presentation by the Hon. Minister of Power on planned and on-going Power Projects in the North East which highlighted.
“The Forum further raised concerns over the non- commissioning of the Dadin Kowa and kashimbila hydro-power plants which is stalling development of the sub-region,and appealed to the Federal Governmentto increase its investments in the sub-region to guarantee peace and economic prosperity.
“The Forum deliberated extensively on the Mambilla Hydroelectric project. It called on the National Assembly and the Federal Government to make adequate budgetary provision in the 2022 appropriation bill for the implementation of the project.
“The Forum, while recognizing that the 2022 budget is in its final stages, calls on the National Assembly to look critically at the subregion with a view to ensuring that adequate budgetary provisions are made for all major capital projects in the Sub region.
“The Forum resolved to have its next meeting from 9th to 11th March 2022 at Gombe, Gombe State.”
The meeting in Damaturu was the 6th edition of the Forum. Pertinent issues affecting the subregion are always discussed during the meeting.
Meanwhile, those in attendance included the Executive Governors of Borno, Gombe and Yobe, while the Executive Governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, and Taraba States were represented by their Deputies.
