President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met behind closed doors with Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Zulum, who spoke to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, said he briefed the president on the security situation in Borno State.
He explained that he was at the villa to seek more support and assistance in the area of addressing the challenges of insecurity occasioned by the activities of insurgents in the state.
He said, “Basically, I’m here to discuss with the President, how best the Federal Government will strengthen the existing situation on the ground in Borno, to improve on the current security situation and the means of livelihood of the entire people of Borno State.
“We want to address the root causes of the insurgency, the issue of access to roads, access to farmlands, strengthening our Civilian Joint Task Force as well as the military, in order to perform their jobs better than before.”
He said the state government was collaborating with the military and paramilitary agencies, to ensure adequate protection of its citizens.
“I am trying to strengthen the communities in the state to be resilient enough, especially by providing them with the needed logistics like vehicles so that they carry can out surveillance in support of the military.
“But by and large, our discussion with the military has gone well and we are doing everything possible within our reach to ensure that stability returns to Borno State,” he said.
In a similar development, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, who was also at the Villa, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for making June 12, Democracy Day and renaming the Abuja National Stadium, MKO Abiola National Stadium.
Abiodun, who spoke with the State House correspondents, after a closed door meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the Buhari administration’s recognition of Abiola was a unifying factor in the political history of Nigeria.
“MKO Abiola was someone who won an election, ran a Muslim-Muslim ticket, meaning that he demystified the issue of religion and that would have been a turning point in the history of Nigeria.