By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Apparently to give situation reports on the insecurity in their domain,
governors from the Northern part of the country under the auspices of Northern Governors’ Forum on Thursday met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, just as he assured them of his commitment to end insecurity in the country.
The meeting which was held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja was also attended by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari who paved the way for the parley.
The governors who were led by their Chairman and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, took turns to narrate their experiences and their individual efforts at finding lasting solutions for the insecurity as well as their expectations from the Federal Government.
Among the Governors in the delegation were Governors of Kebbi state, Atiku Bagudu; Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai; Yobe, Mai Mala Buni; Niger, Abubakar Bello and Nasarawa, Abdullahi Sule.
Speaking to State House Correspondents on why they came to meet with the President, Lalong said:
“Well, this meeting is in respect of some of the common features of insecurity that we have within our states. You’ll recall that many of the states have some of the insecurities that are very similar. So, we put them together and see how to address some of those issues. And we felt that we must also meet Mr. President about it since it’s about insecurity.”
Asked about the key takeaways from the meeting, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum said: “I think they are not to be disclosed because these are about security. But the takeaway I will say is that the meeting with the President was very fruitful and we are also very committed, and we have seen a lot of commitment, so we are waiting for implementation.
“The assurance I will give you is that based on this meeting, we will also wait to see the commitment, and Mr. President has given us that assurance.”
