Governors of the 36 states of the Federation under the aegis of the National Economic Council, (NEC), are currently holding emergency stormy meeting at the Presidential Villa.
BusinessDay Villa sources say the meeting, an emergency meeting called by the NEC, was summoned to discuss the recent decision by NEC to approve 1$b from the Excess Crude account to the federal government to fight insurgency.
The meeting is being attended by Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) controlled states such as Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, and Siriake Dickson, who were not at the meeting that approved the money.
Recall that Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki had at the last NEC meeting, that the funds will be used for arms procurement, training as well as the much needed logistics for the prosecution of the Insurgency that had ravaged parts of the North Eastern part of Nigeria.
The Edo Governor said NEC arrived at the decision as part of its contribution of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to support efforts of the Federal Government in the area of security.
According to him, “Pleased with the achievement that have been made till date in the fight against insurgency particularly in the North East, the governors of Nigeria through their chairman announced at the NEC meeting that the governors have given permission to the federal government to spend the sum of $1billion US dollars in the fight of insurgency.”
The decision had generated much uproar which had polarized the Governors with some PDP Governors insisting that they were not part of the decision.
BusinessDay also gathered that some Speakers of State Houses of Assembly were invited to also attend the meeting which is ongoing at the time of filing in this report.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
