Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, on Monday met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the former Federal Capital Territory, Minister disclosed that the people of the state are entirely in support of the Ruga settlement project.
A raging controversy has trailed establishment of Ruga settlements by the Federal Government across the country.
Mohammed noted that the Ruga project, which the Federal Government recently said was voluntary for states that indicate interest in it, will help address issues of insecurity.
According to him, Bauchi State needed the Ruga project because the population of the state currently was about 60 to 70 percent Fulani.
Bauchi State, he said, will always key into any federal government projects.
He said “60 or 70 percent of the population in Bauchi are Fulanis and therefore we must leverage on all these.”
Stressing that he will not be Abuja governor, he said that he would always be with his people.
He said that he was at the Villa to confer with the President on some of the insecurity challenges facing the state.
“We have illiteracy, insurgency and so many things that are bombarding us in terms of social challenges and security challenges. Definitely we will do that,” he said.
The governor also pointed out that Bauchi State loves President Buhari more than any state in Nigeria, because, “The President is there for all of us, he is not a partisan President.”
Even he was elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he said, “I am the leader of the people many consider more APC than PDP.”
The state, he said, will continue to support the Federal Government because, “There are issues that are within us and there are issues that are beyond our capacity.
“Therefore, we must establish partnership. I have come to discuss very serious issues concerning Bauchi because people in Bauchi have given me that leadership.
“I must establish relationship with the Federal Government because of the serious challenges that we have, challenges in development, social issues and security issues,” he said.
