PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu yesterday held a strategic meeting with the Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, and the heads of seven regional development commissions at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to discuss efforts aimed at strengthening collaboration with state governments in tackling insecurity and improving infrastructure across Nigeria’s geo-political zones.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Momoh explained that the commissions, while not serving as chief executives of their regions, are designed to support federal and state governments in addressing key challenges, especially insecurity.
He emphasized that many of the commissions are already contributing to regional road projects, and that similar initiatives would be expanded as newly established commissions become fully operational.
“The commissions will work with state governments to address insecurity in their regions. It is part of their core mandate. They are not the chief executives of the states, but they will complement the work of other levels of government,” the minister stated.
Momoh cited recent examples of collaboration, including the repair of a 10-kilometre stretch of the Benin–Warri Road in Delta State and ongoing work on the Sapele–Ogorode corridor in Edo State, describing them as models of proactive intervention that should be replicated nationwide.
He attributed the poor state of many roads to years of neglect and inadequate maintenance, noting that the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) had not been fully effective for nearly a decade.
According to the minister, the development commissions have adopted a four-phase master plan to rebuild and connect economic clusters across Nigeria’s regions.
The plan’s first phase focuses on security, followed by sustainability, while the current third phase prioritizes infrastructure to expand market access and drive community renewal.
Momoh added that part of the meeting’s agenda was to address funding challenges for some of the newly established commissions that have yet to receive their take-off grants.