Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, has met with President Bola Tinubu behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa where he requested the release of the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Mbah, who briefed State House Correspondents after the meeting said Kanu’s release would be interpreted as the extension of the President’s hands of fellowship to the Ndigbo.
The governor also disclosed that he requested for more security presence in his state following the announcement of his government outlawing Monday’s sit-at-home protest in the State.
Mbah equally disclosed that he requested that the federal government collaborate with his state to exploit the mineral resources buried in the State in order to unlock Enugu’s potential and expand the economy
In his discussion about Kanu, he said “We also, of course, talked about the release of Nnamdi Kanu. You know, that the South East has made a collective demand to have Nnamdi Kanu released.
“And we basically identified with that and request, Mr President, who in his inaugural address promised the people that he’s going to engender national healing and he’s going to serve with compassion. So we’ve basically informed him that this would serve as a pointer to his administration’s extension of hands of fellowship to Ndigbo”
On the need to strengthen security in the stage, the governor said “We have made a very strong announcement. We’ve banned sitting at home on Mondays in Enugu. And obviously, what that means is that we will, of course, need to, you know, heighten our security, tackle the challenges that would flow from that, and, you know, essentially that’s what I have come to do.
Commenting on his plans to grow the state’s economy to $30 billion in the next four years, Mbah said
“One of our core governance philosophies is to collaborate and to have a partnership, and we have identified the federal government as our core partner.
“We have a number of dormant assets in Enugu which we believe partnering with the federal government, we’re able to transform into productive assets. A lot of people do not know, but we have huge mineral resources in Enugu And these resources are sitting under our ground not being productive.
“So we believe with the partnership we’re trying to basically build with the federal government, we’re able to transform these assets into productive assets.”
