North-East Govs Decry Neglect Of Mambila Hydropower Project

The North-East Governors’ Forum has restated its long-standing concern over what it called the seeming neglect of the Mambila hydropower plant in Taraba State, urging the Federal Government to use the recent arbitration ruling, which cleared the project’s legal encumbrance, to speed up the plant’s completion and take-off.

The Northeast Governors’ Forum (NEGF) said it had transformed power supply from a problem that each state handles independently to a shared regional energy agenda for the sub-region.

It also wants member states to take full advantage of the new electricity law and the region’s abundant sunshine to expand solar and mini-grid technologies.

The position was stated in an eleven-point communiqué issued in Maiduguri on Saturday at the end of the Forum’s 13th meeting.

The communiqué was signed by the Forum’s chairman and Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, and read by the Vice Chairman of the Forum and Adamawa State Governor, Alhaji Ahmodu Umoru Fintiri.

The governors noted that the Dadinkowa hydropower plant in Gombe State now feeds the national grid.

They described this as one result of their joint efforts to provide power and energise the sub-region.

The Forum restated its long-standing concern over what it called the apparent neglect of the Mambila hydropower plant in Taraba State, urging the Federal Government to use the recent arbitration ruling, which cleared the project’s legal encumbrance, to expedite the plant’s completion and take-off.

The Forum agreed to partner with Green Ville Energy to build more Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) stations across the region to cut transport costs.

The Governors also thanked the Federal Government, through the North East Development Commission (NEDC), for providing 10,000 electric tricycles, 10 electric buses and 300 electric taxis, which are expected to be launched later this month to ease the burden of transportation.

They also resolved to set up a North-East regional air shuttle, which, according to them, would make it faster and easier to move people and goods within the region and to other parts of the country.

The Forum commended President Bola Tinubu for paying renewed attention to the PortHarcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Maiduguri rail corridor, the Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Maiduguri highway, and frontier oil exploration at Kolmani.

However, it called on the Federal Government to revisit oil exploration activities that began but later stalled in Magumeri and Gubio Local Government Areas of Borno State.

On security, the governors acknowledged the appreciable success recorded against the insurgency and commended the courage and sacrifice of the Armed Forces and other security agencies.

The Forum noted that the North-East has one of the youngest populations in the country. It recommitted to providing young people with quality education, vocational and entrepreneurial skills, technology, and meaningful jobs.

On the environment, the Forum condemned the extent of damage caused by deforestation and resolved to partner with the Forestry Research Institute to train forest experts in the region.

The meeting was attended by Governor Zulum, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State and Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State. Bauchi State and Yobe State were represented by their Deputy Governors, Rt. Hon. Mohammed Auwal Jatau and Alhaji Idi Barde Gubana. The Deputy Governor of Borno State, Umar Usman Kadafur, was also in attendance.

Since its inaugural meeting in Gombe in March 2020, the Forum said its greatest achievement has been its members’ unity, noting that this unity has given the region a collective voice delivering real infrastructural development.

The 14th meeting of the Forum is scheduled to be held in Gombe on December 18 and 19, 2026.