Farmers killing: Governors to meet Buhari soon, says NGF

The 36 state governors are to meet with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as soon as possible, to address security challenges across the country, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum has said.

The forum disclosed this in a communiqué signed by its Chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, after its 22nd teleconference meeting in Abuja on Friday.

According to the communique, Buhari will particularly speak in the light of the attack on farmers in Borno State.

The communiqué said the governors deliberated on issues affecting the country, particularly on national security and the killing of some 43 rice farmers in the Jere Local Government Area of Borno.

The communique said that the governors also endorsed two proposals on infrastructure development fund loans.

”The proposal was from Governor Nasir El-Rufai-led National Economic Council ad hoc Committee on Leveraging Portion of Accumulated Pension Funds for Investment in the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, and the Governor of Central Bank Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele,” it said.

The communique noted that the El-Rufai committee briefed the forum on a proposed National Infrastructure Investment Fund under the auspices of the NSIA such that N2 trillion at nine per cent interest could be accessed through the authority.

“The NGF chairman said that the CBN governor has a similar proposal to access N15 trillion naira for national infrastructure funding through INFRACREDIT at a lower interest rate of five per cent,” it said.

On the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the governors encouraged the Federal Government and ASUU to hasten the implementation of the truce elements in their resolutions to allow schools reopen immediately.