•Insurgents still hiding in Sambisa forest–N/east govs tell NEC
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has raised the alarm that the Boko Haram terrorist group is planning to bomb his house.
Osinbajo, who had recently toured states ravaged by the insurgency, disclosed this Thursday during a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) he presided over.
The vice president was recently in Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe States where he visited the internally displaced persons (IDPs) on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Security reports had it that scavengers were being prepared by insurgents to dump refuse laden with bombs in his house, according to a copy of the resolution of the NEC meeting, made available to State House journalists by the Council Secretariat.
The copy of the resolution, however, did not specify whether Osinbajo was referring to his residence at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa or elsewhere.
When contacted for clarification, the spokesman of the vice president, Laolu Akande, told our correspondent that his boss could not have meant his house.
The vice president was also quoted as regretting that the insurgency had affected the economic life of the north-east and the country as a whole.
He called on the council to speak as a teem to put pressure on the service chiefs to increase their efforts in the fight against insurgency.
According to the resolution document, governors from the north-east and north-west presented updates on insurgency in the north-east and such other criminal activities as cattle rustling and banditry in the north-west
Boko Haram still controls five local Governments
The document indicated that Yobe, Borno, Taraba, kaduna, Gombe, Plateau and Bauchi State governors took turns to inform the council of security concerns in those regions.
The governors of Yobe and Borno States were said to have raised the alarm of five local government areas of the two States still being in possession of the Boko Haram insurgents.
They were also said to have called for increase in military deployment and provision of sophisticated military equipment in those areas.
The two governors were also said to have told the council that Boko Haram insurgents were still hiding in the Sambisa forest in Borno State.
On cattle rustling and banditry, Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai told the council that most of the cattle rustlers were in “Kumuku national park and which if not properly handled could result to another Sambisa forest”.
The council noted that “security effort is being set up to deal with this”.
Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola suggested that “special economic angle” be introduced in addition to military intervention to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency.
On the federal government’s approved intervention funds for states to pay salaries, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele updated the council on the update of restructuring of bank loans for the states and payment of salary arrears.
Emefiele told the council that following meetings with banks, it was agreed that existing loans should be restructured for the minimum of 20 years while salary arrears should also be restructured for the minimum of 15 years and not exceed more than 20 years.
The CBN governors added that states could opt for two options which are the bond option that will attract market rate as well as the debt restructuring option that will attract single digit rate
The council therefore resolved that a four-man team comprising the governors of Bauchi, Rivers, Ondo and Osun States are to follow up with the CBN to ensure that the issues of Excess Crude collateral for the states are sorted out by next Tuesday.
The council received a presentation from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance on the Excess Crude Proceeds
The permanent secretary took the council through the summary of in-flow and out-flow of Excess Crude savings account from January 2011 to 21 July 2015.
According to the perm secretary, the Excess Crude Account currently stands at $2.078 billion
The NEC directed that the committee on ECA should work with the Accountant General’s Office to resolve the gaps observed in the presentation.
Earlier while briefing State House journalists after the NEC meeting, Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode said the council charged governors to find ways of cutting cost of governance in their respective states.
Ambode said since there was no uniform template on this, it was left for states to find ways of cutting cost of governance in their various states.
The governor said the council was of the view that states could not continue with huge cost of running government.
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