BY IDRIS SABO – The North-East Governors’ Forum (NEGF) is demanding that the Federal Government urgently revive stalled oil exploration activities in Borno State, as part of deliberate efforts to spotlight the region’s untapped energy potential.
While rallying for fresh and renewed oil drilling in Borno, the Forum also praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for breathing new life into the ongoing Kolmani oil project in neighboring Gombe State.
Anchored in a joint communiqué released Saturday at the conclusion of the Forum’s 13th regular meeting at the Borno Government House in Maiduguri, the high-stakes two day which held between October 2 and October 3, 2026, bringing together governors and top government officials from the six North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe, to deliberate on regional security, economic integration, and infrastructure
Faced with shared regional hurdles, the governors used the summit to hammer out critical frameworks for regional security, economic integration, and infrastructure development in a communiqué read by the Forum’s Vice Chairman and Governor of Adamawa State, Rt. Hon. Umaru Fintiri’
The NEGF urged the Federal Government to revisit petroleum exploration activities that had earlier commenced but subsequently stalled in the Magumeri and Gubio Local Government Areas of Borno State, even as the governors expressed deep appreciation to the President for renewed federal attention on key regional infrastructure projects.
They listed the projects as the Port Harcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Maiduguri rail corridor, ongoing frontier oil exploration project at Kolmani in Gombe state, and the Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Maiduguri highway.
Marking six years since its inaugural summit held in March 2020 at Gombe, the Forum hailed the unbreakable regional unity as its crowning achievement, stressing that this united front has successfully transformed a fractured collective voice into a powerful legislative hammer, driving concrete infrastructure and development across the region.
Addressing issues around power generation, which took center stage as the governors celebrated a bold shift toward a unified energy grid, the Forum highlighted the Dadinkowa hydropower plant, now actively feeds electricity into the national grid.
The Forum urged member states to aggressively exploit the new electricity deregulation laws by deploying massive solar-powered mini-grids, while also demanding immediate federal action with its fiercely renewed call on Abuja to fast-track the long-abandoned Mambila Hydropower Plant.
Importantly, the Governors insisted that the recent clearance of decades-long legal bottlenecks through a definitive arbitration ruling leaves the Federal Government with zero excuses for further delay, adding that to no efforts should be spared in rolling out policies and programmes aimed at cushioning the impact hardship across the country.
To combat crushing transportation costs and ignite commerce, the Forum sealed a strategic partnership with Green Ville Energy and said this cross-regional alliance will trigger a rapid rollout of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fueling stations, offering immediate economic relief to commuters and businesses alike.
The forum also acknowledged the Federal Government and the North East Development Commission (NEDC) for providing 10,000 electric tricycles, 10 electric buses, and 300 electric taxis set to launch in October, alongside plans to float a North-East regional air shuttle service to facilitate faster movement of people and goods.
Also acknowledging appreciable successes in the ongoing fight against insurgency and banditry, the Forum praised the sacrifices of the Armed Forces, the Forum noted that the subregion still faces daunting humanitarian and infrastructural hurdles and reaffirmed it commitment to intelligence sharing, inter-state security cooperation, and tackling the root socio-economic drivers of youth exploitation by extremist elements.
The communique noted that with the North-East holding one of the youngest populations in the country, the Forum would stay focused and prioritize quality education, vocational and entrepreneurial training, and technology-driven employment for youth.
Further maintaining that the region’s future hinges on its youth, the governors turned their focus toward the NEDC, calling for a radical overhaul of educational investments, with the clear vision to unlock stalled scholarships as a lifeline to indigent students, aggressively pull vulnerable children off the streets and into classrooms, and inject vital resources into traditional Tsangaya schooling.
On environmental preservation that emerged as another critical battleground, the Forum moved swiftly to heal a scarred landscape and green lit a partnership with the Institute of Forest Research to cultivate a new generation of local forest guardians capable of reversing the march of deforestation.
But for now, the stage is already set for the next chapter of this regional transformation, with the governors locking in December 18–19, 2026, for their upcoming assembly slated to hold in Gombe State.
