President Bola Tinubu on Thursday charged governors from the six northeastern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe to do more in the face of terrorism and banditry.
He declared that Nigeria had stabilised economically and entered what he described as a golden age.
Tinubu gave the charge when he received a delegation of North-East political leaders and senior government officials from the region at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Officials who earlier spoke to our correspondent said the meeting is a formal thank-you visit following the President’s decision to retain Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2027 general election.
Tinubu told the gathering, “I could see the leadership of the Northeast challenged because of terrorism and banditry. I could see our collaboration. We work together.
“Only when we stick together, think together, and face the challenges the best way possible as a united country do we prevail.”
He added, “The golden age is here now. If you can stabilise the economy, Nigerians are not asking for too much: simple stability and social welfare.
“We have our hands on the plough. We are never going to look back. I promise you, through the twists and turns of this democracy, Nigeria will survive.
“We will find our unity in diversity, a good path for democratic stability and prosperity. I promise you that.”
Tinubu said he was making good on his infrastructure commitments to the region, referencing promises he had made earlier in his tenure to build road networks in the Northeast.
“I remember when I asked passionately for some road networks in the Northeast, as if we were starting the journey and writing a new manifesto. But I fulfilled the promise. I fulfilled it,” he affirmed, referencing the flag-off of the Akwanga-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri superhighway, which began earlier this year.
He also addressed pensioners in the gathering, saying his administration was clearing pension backlogs left by predecessors.
According to him, “Among the divisions today are some pensioners. I hope you are receiving your pensions. I am clearing the mess created before me, but I won’t complain.”
The President also paid tribute to former Vice President Babagana Kingibe who attended the meeting, recalling their shared history in progressive politics dating back to the Social Democratic Party era of the Third Republic.
He said, “When I started in politics, you were the chairman of our Social Democratic Party. You gave us the footing and the confidence of a progressive philosophy that should have been the hallmark of this country.
“Glad that you are alive through the twists and turns of democracy. Thank you for being who you are.”
In his remarks earlier, Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, who led the delegation and chairs the North-East Governors Forum, said the visit was to formally and profoundly thank the President for renominating Shettima as his running mate for 2027.
Zulum explained, “Your Excellency, we are here for just one overriding purpose, to show our appreciation and thank you most profoundly for the renomination of an accomplished son of our region, His Excellency Senator Kashim Shettima, as your vice-presidential running mate in the forthcoming 2027 presidential election on the platform of our great party, the All Progressives Congress.
“By this decision, you have once again demonstrated your great quality of being a leader who recognises and rewards loyalty, competence, and commitment.
“Vice President Shettima has demonstrated for all to see these qualities and more in the last three-plus years that he has served as your trusted lieutenant, as you led our nation with purpose, dedication, and profound vision.”
Zulum added that under the APC’s power-sharing arrangement, the President had the liberty to choose a running mate from any of the three northern zones, and that Tinubu’s decision to continue with a northeastern partner required consultation with and buy-in from the North-Central and North-West.
“We are therefore also grateful to our brothers and sisters in the two other northern zones for their solidarity and self-abnegation in indicating their full support for your decision.
“We hope to express this appreciation to them in the near future, and we look forward to reciprocating their gesture of brotherhood whenever the occasion arises,” he stated.
The governor said the delegation also came to acknowledge the administration’s infrastructure commitments to the region, particularly the commencement of the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri Superhighway and other strategic road projects, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons, and investments in education, agriculture and job creation.
On the region’s stance in the 2027 polls, Zulum affirmed, “On behalf of the governors, ministers, National Assembly members, party members, women, youths, and our teeming supporters, I wish to assure Your Excellency that the North-East remains solidly behind your administration.
“Come 2027, by God’s will, the North-East will massively deliver your ticket and all other APC candidates at all levels.
“We will do this not only because of what you have already done for the region, but because we believe in your leadership and share your vision of the future Nigeria you are building.”
Kingibe, who ran alongside MKO Abiola on the SDP platform in the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, stressed that political leaders like him who are not always visible in the media remained active forces of legitimacy and guidance in their communities.
Kingibe said, “We are not all active politicians you see on screens or in the media every day, but we are there.
“We are with our people. We guide them. We explain to them what the implications of government policies are, and what the alternatives would be. We are there to give legitimacy because our people trust us.
“Our people believe in us, and they know that wherever we are, that is where truth and hope lie.”
Drawing on June 12 and its long aftermath, Kingibe said: “Mr President, we are with you. We are with your administration, and by the grace of God, you will continue where we stopped in 1993, and bring hope to our great fatherland.”
The delegation included the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai; former governors and senators from the six northeastern states; the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Hadejia; former Borno State Governor and APC chieftain, Ali Modu Sheriff; former FCT Minister Musa Bello; state party chairmen from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe; traditional rulers, including the Shehu of Borno and the Emir of Gombe; and former ambassadors, among others.
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