Northern state governors, on Monday, held an emergency meeting in Kaduna to discuss the progress and major concerns of the region.
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum, said the 19 governors would also look at critical national issues that had emerged over the recent months with a view to coming up with a position of the region.
He said the Forum would also adopt the best possible approach to ensuring that the interest of the region was protected and promoted.
He said that collection of Value Added Tax, VAT, and the surrounding controversies were among the key issues to be discussed.
“While getting update essentially on the progress made so far from the previous meeting held in February, we shall take stock of how far we have gone in tackling banditry, kidnapping and insurgency, and chart a way forward,” he said.
Lalong recalled that in February, the Forum had considered a wide range of issues concerning the well-being of its people.
He said a lot of Northern stakeholders were at the last meeting, including the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and other members of the National Assembly, the Chief of Staff to the President, Minister of Information and Culture; and the Inspector General of Police.
The chairman further recalled that the Forum also received reports from the various committees and resolved to look into the implementation of the reports, while awaiting the completion of work on others.
In his remarks, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, Chairman of the Northern Council of Traditional Rulers, decried the lack of implementation of policies after resolutions had been reached in various meetings.
“Today, I look forward to robust contributions from all members that will lead us to arrive at very meaningful conclusions that will impact positively on the fortunes of our people,” he said.
He noted that when an important issue was discussed, there was need to fix a time limit for proper implementation of the resolution.
“Today, I look forward to robust contributions from all members that will lead us to arrive at very meaningful conclusions that will impact positively on the fortunes of our people,” he said.
He noted that when an important issue was discussed, there was a need to fix a time limit for proper implementation of the resolution.
– NAN
