President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, met with the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, who briefed him on the high level of insecurity in the state as well as the crisis in the State House of Assembly.
The governor, who spoke with newsmen at the State House, Abuja, said the President during the closed-door meeting, asked him about the recent attacks by bandits and the ongoing crisis in the State House of Assembly, where two factional speakers emerged.
Tinubu had earlier met with two royal fathers from Niger State: the Emir of Borgu, who bestowed him with chieftaincy title of Jagaban, when he was Governor of Lagos State, Muhammed Haliru Dantoro; and his counterpart from Kontagora, Mohammed Barau.
Also yesterday, the president met with the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, who said he briefed him on critical national engagements NNPC does on behalf of the nation and Nigerians to keep him abreast of what the corporation is doing.
In the same breath, the President met with Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, who equally briefed him on the status of the agency and what the parastatal intended doing to support the administration.
However, speaking on the purpose of his visit, Sule said, “First and foremost, I think Mr President was interested in knowing some of the security challenges we have in the state. The state is always an area, where some of these few security challenges come up because a lot of these bandits and kidnappers always target Abuja, they think that’s where the money is.
“They usually come between our border and Kaduna, they come between our border and Kogi, our border with Benue, so we had a few of some of those issues. In fact, a few days ago, more than twenty something people were kidnapped on the main highway coming to Abuja, but God so kind, we were able to get all of them back.
“Last week we got some few expatriates, who were kidnapped at their site between Garaku and Dari. We were able to get all of them out yesterday (Monday). I’m sure Mr President got some of those security reports that some of those issues came up.
“There was also the problem within the House of Assembly, I think Mr President wanted to know more about that. So, that’s what I used the opportunity to brief him on what is really happening.”
Asked what assurances he got from the president on security, the Nasarawa governor said, “I saw the commitment from his own side, because from what you can see while I’m here, there are already some heads of security agencies that are here, so he said he’s going to discuss with them immediately.
“In the past, we had taken joint military operation in the area and he said it was also another option that he will look at. That is the direction that we’re getting,” he said.
Kyari, on his part, briefed him on critical national engagements NNPC does on behalf of the nation and Nigerians to keep him abreast of what the corporation is doing.
Commenting on possible solutions to the situations on ground, like deregulation and others, Kyari said, “I’m aware that Mr President is working on several steps to bring palliatives so that Nigerians can benefit from it, more than anything.
“There’s a structural approach to make sure that Nigerians have access to cheap fuel in the form of CNG and LPG and this is work in progress and I believe that this will be rolled out very soon.”
After the meeting with Ogbuku, the NDDC boss told newsmen: “At least, it’s just an interventionist agency, just to intervene in the underdevelopment of the region. So, we have different programmes, but the most important thing is that most of these programmes must be in line with Mr President’s vision. So, he has asked us to do certain things and get back to him, once we put that together, we’ll get back to him again.”
The Emir of Borgu, said the visit was to congratulate and wish the president the best in his administration.
“Since he’s already in the office and we have seen changes coming to the country, so it is something that we feel is very necessary to encourage him. That’s what I came to do, to congratulate him and encourage him for the success of his administration,” he said.
Asked if he made any request from the President, he stated that, “We talked about security challenges, which is also confronting the entire nation and we believe that he’s going to do something.
“We told him about what is going on in our areas and we want him to come to our aid and he’s promised he’s going to do his best in terms of the security challenges, even the entire nation because it’s one of the promises he made during the campaigns, that the issue of insecurity will be history, by the grace of God,” he said.
Former governor of Katsina State, Hon Aminu Masari, and former Managing Director of the NDDC, Chief Timi Alaibe and former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, also met yesterday with the President.