President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed doors three Northern governors who came with different demands that will assist developments in their states at the Presidential Villa.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal told reporters that his mission was to brief President Buhari and further seek the Federal Government’s support for the oil exploration endeavour in the Sokoto basin. Tambuwal said he received a positive response from the President.
“I came to see our leader, President Buhari and we had a discussion on quite a number of issues. Of specific mention is the issue of the general wellbeing of the country and security situation of the country. “Also, we have discussed with the President on possible oil exploration in the Sokoto basin.
“There is a need for the Federal Government to continue to support that endeavour, which I believe will help in more provision of oil and gas which we believe is very much in abundance in this basin, but also in bringing about agricultural revolution in that area. “If you have gas, it will support the power supply which will, in turn, enhance and influence agro-allied industries that are likely to come on board and also have a positive impact economically on the lives and wellbeing of the people that are along the basin.
These are some of the issues we discussed with Mr. President. “We believe particularly the issue of gas, we need it for our local consumption; we have the conviction that what we have in that area is more than sufficient for an upward of 20 to 30 years of use by the people of the area. “If explored, we don’t have to make pipelines from the Delta region up North. So, it’s a way of providing cheaper services to the people.”
Yobe State governor, Ibrahim Giadam, told reporters that he, among other demands, requested President Buhari to approve the refund of 50 per cent of the N13 billion spend by the state in assisting in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency.
He said about N13 billion was spent by the state in taking care of the military Joint Task Force prosecuting the war against insurgency in the state. Gaidam said the refund will go a long way in relieving some of the problems of the state, particularly infrastructure for people who have returned to homes after being displaced by the insurgency. Gaidam said the state specifically needs the refund now to be deployed in the provision of other services, including the establishment of hospitals for the benefit of the people.
The governor lamented that the people of the state have not received any support from the Presidential Committee on North East Initiative that could have assisted in the building and reconstruction of their houses so that they can start their normal lives. He said his mission to the villa was to seek federal assistance to facilitate resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the destroyed areas by the activities of Boko Haram in the state.
On his part, Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State said that there was no iota of truth in the alleged impeachment move against him by the State House of Assembly, saying that he shares the same vision with members of the parliament.
On his meeting with President Buhari, the governor said: “It is really in relation to the diversification of the economy to nonoil dependence. “I was made the NEC chairman on non-oil dependence board of the economy and we discussed pretty well on how to go about it and we believe that agriculture and solid minerals are key and we discussed a lot on how to improve our international competitiveness in agricultural production.”