The governors also urge President Buhari to establish a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
Governors of the six North-east states in Nigeria have appealed to the international community, development partners and donor agencies to help provide solutions to the armed conflict and its consequences in the region.
The governors made the appeal after a meeting of their forum at the Taraba State Government House in Jalingo.
The meeting, which was the fifth in the series, was convened to review the security situation in the region.
It also considered strategies for fighting poverty for sustainable development as “peace slowly returns to the region”.
Apart from the Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, who was represented by his deputy, Idi Barde Gubana, all the governors from the zone attended the meeting.
The chairman of the forum, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, reading the communique issued at the end of the meeting, said the governors discussed how to take advantage of improved security situation in the region towards fighting poverty and vices.
“The Forum calls on the diplomatic community, partners and donor agencies supporting the region to activate the process of transiting from humanitarian to stabilisation and durable solution within the region.
“This will ensure sustainability and give people the opportunity to help themselves out of poverty. This will address socio-economic dimension of insecurity in the region,” he said.
“The Forum also notes the negative impact of drug and narcotic substances in the region and the extent to which it fuels the insurgency and other forms of criminality in the region. It therefore calls for support in the area of stopping drug trafficking and enforcing narcotic control within the region and across the borders.
By Chuwang Dungs,
Premium Times