North-East Govs Meet Tinubu, Seek Oil Exploration, Completion Of Projects

North-East governors have urged President Bola Tinubu to prioritise oil exploration in frontier wells and complete 17 critical road projects across the region.

Led by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, the governors made the appeal during a meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday. They also called for work to resume at the Kolmani and Lake Chad oil wells.

The governors listed major projects, including the Kano–Maiduguri Road, Port Harcourt–Jos–Bauchi–Maiduguri Railway line, Bama–Mubi–Yola Road, Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Damaturu Road, and Maiduguri–Monguno–Baga Road, among others.

Zulum, who chairs the North-East Governors’ Forum, commended Tinubu for consolidating peace in the sub-region and pledged the forum’s support for his administration’s security and development agenda.

Responding, the president assured the governors of his commitment to addressing the region’s infrastructural and developmental challenges.

HYPREP yet to attain 80% restoration of Ogoni polluted environment.

Various claims and reports have continued to trail the ongoing cleanup exercise in Ogoni land, Rivers State, being handled by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) .

Former Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo, in June 2016, flagged off the remediation exercise. However, on May 25, 2025, the Africa Independent Television (AIT), and some media outlets reported that the remediation of the Ogoni land at the Centre of Excellence and Environmental Restoration is almost 80 per cent completed and has attracted various partnerships from within the country and international communities, including the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Peter Ryan, who was at the HYPREP office in Port Harcourt, seeking partnership with the agency.

The report, since then, has sparked controversies, especially on X space with many X users commending the efforts of President Bola Tinubu while others described it as ‘propaganda,’ stating that the President wants to resume oil exploration in Ogoniland, hence, the claim.

An X user, with the handle, @TheLionkin6627, said: “Your interest is to suck their oil, you don’t care about them (the Ogoni).” Another user, @proudnaijaguyy, said: “PBAT na talk and do” while George Damian, said, “We play with figures too much in Nigeria.”

Concerned by the controversies generated by the report, The Guardian conducted an on-the-ground assessment of the current situation of the Ogoni cleanup exercise, which revealed that the exercise is still far from attaining 80 per cent completion