The Chairman of the Northern Governors’’ Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State says States in the Northern region are happy with the declaration of bandits as terrorists and deployment of the recently acquired Super Tucano jets to rout the bandits.
Governor Lalong was speaking to State House Correspondents on Friday, after he met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “Well, in terms of security, we are already beginning to see progress on some of the issues we raised with the President last year; you recall that we have been very eager to see the use of the Tucano helicopters so that we can have massive engagement with all the bandits.
“Part of the problem was also the status of the bandits and already you can see that the Nigerian government has declared them as a terrorists group so, the military is now going to do full engagement and we are also getting prepared in the North for such actions. That is what we are expecting so if we are going to take action, let it be massive and such that will ensure that within the first quarter of this year people will have hope of their security and peaceful living in all parts of the North.”
Governor Lalong emphasized that the action needs to be taken before the next farming season, to guarantee safety of farmers, leading to a bumper harvest at the end.
“We are expecting this action before the next rainy season. You recall we mentioned that we are an agrarian society so, we want our people to go back to farm and in most cases it is this insecurity that is keeping them away from the farms,” he added.
He noted that the Northern Governors would continue to collaborate with traditional rulers and local vigilantes to safeguard their domains.
He also said the Northern Governors’ Forum has sent a bill on redefining the role of traditional rulers in governance and would work hard to ensure the bill scales through all legislative processes.
APC crisis
Commenting on the current crisis looming in Nigeria’s governing party the APC, he assured members of the APC that the storm will soon be over.
He stressed that the party will hold its convention next month and it will be successful.
He said: “I agree that all the times there are meetings, especially taking final decisions on the party, I’m always part of it and part of it was also why I visited the President and the President still stands committed that there must be an immediate convention.
“You know, when a convention is coming there are fears here and there, some people will tell you it will work, it will not work. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but the visit to the President has already assured us and you know that there is already a notice that all the governors are meeting on Sunday. By Sunday we will tell you when we’re doing the convention.
“We’ve taken a date already. I think our first date before Christmas we said we’re going to do a convention in February and we are still working for the convention, as far as I’m concerned, except things change from another angle. But as far as I’m concerned, we’re working for our convention in February.
“These are things that the President was raising his fears about, but we’ve already given him assurances that nothing will stop us from having a very peaceful election. Some parties have done their own, the PDP did their own, nothing will stop APC from doing their own.”
On the impending litigation that might mar the holding of the proposed convention and chances of the party, Governor Lalong allayed such fears.
“There are procedures for holding court processes. Many of the court processes were there when we set up the caretaker committee, but up to this moment, if you go to take a census of some of the court proceedings, you will realize that a lot of them have been resolved out of court. So, it’s still the duty of the party, it’s still part of the functions of the party to resolve.
“But we must not wait to resolve all court presses before you go to the convention. I don’t think so because there are also machineries for resolving court processes, even after convention. I had a court process in my state that did not stop me from going on and at the end of the day, we resolved the court process and we’re still going on, preparing and waiting for the convention.
“Well, I’m not the chairman of the convention committee, but I want to assure you that we’ve called a meeting for Sunday and if there is a meeting on Sunday, and you’re thinking about next Friday. Just wait and see what will happen before next Friday. I don’t want to draw a conclusion now,” he assured.
