I came to see our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari and we had discussions on quite a number of issues, of specific mention is the issue is the general well-being of the country and especially security situation of the country. I am sure you are aware that recently we were in the South east, as governors from the North West to interact with our brothers in the South East and South South as it affects the people of the North residing in the South, so there was a need for a feedback.
If you remember very well recently, I was personally at the NNPC Towers where we engaged the GMD of the NNPC on possible oil exploration in the Sokoto Basin and I have had cause to brief the President on that particular interaction. I believe there is a need for the Federal Government to continue to support that endeavour which I believe will help in more provision of oil and gas which we believe is very much in abundance in this basin but also in bringing about agricultural revolution in that area.
If you have gas it will support the power supply which will in turn enhance and influence agro- allied industries that are likely to come on board and also have a positive impact economically on the lives and well- being of the people that are along the basin. These are some of the issues we discussed with Mr President.
The issue of oil in the Sokoto Basin has been with us since 1957, when the first attempt was made but with the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta, there was a shift in focus to that of Niger Delta . We believe, particularly the issue of gas, we need it for our local consumption, we have the conviction that what we have in the area sufficient for domestic and commercial use.
If explored, we don't have to make pipelines from the Delta region up north, to North West states of Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina. If the exploration goes ahead, we will ease the problem of evacuation and transportation or piping of gas and petroleum products to this part of the nation.
*Abridged transcript of the remarks of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal during interactive session with State House correspondents after his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Monday, 09/10/17
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