North-East govs agree to invest in Mambila power projects, abandon security issues

Against the expectations of people of the North East subregion, who had expected the announcement of security measures to curb the insecurity that has ravaged the area, the six Governors of the subregion at the end of their one-day consultative meeting, held in Gombe late Thursday night to early Friday morning,  only agreed to set up a regional power generation by supporting the ongoing Mambila Power Project,  to ensure the economic advancement of the region.

While reading the communique at the end of the meeting early Friday morning, the host Governor of Gombe state, Inuwa Yahaya disclosed that this was part of the resolution by the Governors to address the challenges facing the region.

He further read that the Governors have also agreed to harness the agricultural potentials of the zone with a view to ensuring food security not only in the region but in the country in general.

The communique further contained that they have also resolved to key into the environmental initiative of the Federal Government in addition to praising the authorities concern on the ongoing oil exploration in the zone.

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The Gombe State Governor also read that his colleagues expressed satisfaction with the establishment of the North East Development Commission and pledged to provide the necessary support to achieve the desired objectives.

The Governors then appealed to the Commission to ensure its projects were executed based on the basic needs of the beneficiaries so as to overcome their challenges.

On security, he said the Governors have directed State Attorney General in their respective states to work together in order to enhance security in the region. The Governors have set up a technical committee to ensure the full implementation of all the agreements reached at the meeting.

The next meeting of the North East Governors was scheduled to hold on the 15 of April 2020 in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno state.

In his vote of thanks, on behalf of the other Governors, Yobe State Governor, Maimala Buni commended the Governor of Gombe State for hosting the meeting and identified increased activities of insurgents as one of the major challenges facing the region.

Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammad alongside his colleagues of Adamawa, Yobe, Borno and Gombe states attended the meeting while the Governor of Taraba state was represented by his Deputy.