North-East Governors Commit to Revitalisation of Sub-Region

…We are Coming Together to Address Common Problems – Gov. Mai Mala Buni

Governors of states in the North-East sub-region have committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure peace and security and improved socio-economic development in the sub-region as they meet in Gombe for the first time under the North-East Governors’ Consultative Forum.

All six governors of states in the sub-region were present at the maiden meeting of the Forum which took place at Government House Gombe on Friday except that of Taraba State who was represented by his deputy.

Chaired by Gombe State Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, the meeting released a 13-point communique in which the governors, amongst other issues, ordered their state attorneys-general to meet together and harmonise laws that would address the security challenges that have bedevilled the sub-region for over a decade.

The governors also hinted at a decision to adopt a demands-driven approach to interacting with and benefitting from the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) that was set up by the Buhari administration to address developmental challenges that have stymied the sub-region, especially in the wake of the devastating Boko Haram crisis.

H.E Gov. Mai Mala Buni, who delivered a brief thank-you remark on behalf of the governors during a gala hosted by the Gombe State governor after the meeting, said it was fitting that governors from the sub-region were meeting under a common umbrella to address common problems and challenges that affect their states.

The governor observed that the challenges facing the North-East are not insurmountable and that working together, the peoples and governments of the sub-region would surely address and overcome them.