ABUJA—Governors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, have formally written President Muhammadu Buhari, expressing their displeasure with many of his recent appointments.
It would be recalled that the governors, last week, held a meeting with the President on the heels of the release of names of ambassadors-designates and averred that the appointments did not reflect federal character.
This came on a day Bauchi State governor, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar and his Jigawa counterpart, Mr. Mohammed Baduru, appealed to the President to assist them in tackling insecurity and kidnapping in their respective states.
Rising from the meeting, the governors said the President asked them to put their observations in writing. Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with the President on behalf of his colleagues at the presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, Governor Sam Ortom of Benue State said that they had formally written to the President but was quick to note that appointments were the prerogative of the President. He said: “It is the prerogative of Mr. President to do appointments but where there is need, we always give support. We have written where we have reservations and is being attended to.” Asked to state his mission to the Villa, the governor said he was there to discuss security issues with the President, especially herdsmen’s problem.
“Once in a while, it is important to brief the President about my state so that we are on the same page. We have been having security challenges but thank God. ‘’With the collaboration with some security agencies in my state and with the support of Mr. President, I can say that it is relatively calm. “Today, the issue of herdsmen and farmers; we have been able to through dialogue to agree to work together in a manner that there will be a win-win situation.
Yes, the herdsmen have their rights to live but the farmers too have their rights to live and do their farming activities. “The herdsmen too must find ways of relating with the farmers and not encroaching on people’s farms. We have told our people that we need one another. Life is complimentary and we need one another.
‘’We must compliment one another by ensuring that anyone who has a chosen career must be supported to pursue it. And so today, the state is relatively calm. “There were other issues bothering on economy. Today, we are talking about diversifying the economy and we have comparative advantage in agriculture, that is what we are promoting.
‘’We are expecting multiple harvests this year. Our people yielded to advice to go back to farm because food first before any other thing. We also appreciate the investors who are coming into the state to process our primary products. ‘’So, it is important that once in a while, I brief Mr. President about the development in my state.”
Proffering lasting solution to the farmers/herdsmen clash, the governor stated that ranching was the answer. “I have always said this, if we can copy the presidential system from America, why can we copy ranching? But you see, it is a gradual process and cannot be done over night.
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