Minister Abubakar Momoh has solicited the cooperation of governors from the Niger Delta to speed up the region’s development.

Mr Momoh said this when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Umo Eno at Government House, Uyo, on Thursday.

The minister said his visit to Akwa Ibom was part of his tour of the region to seek synergy with state governors to garner full support from the federal government to speed up development in the Niger Delta region.

The Niger Delta affairs minister said insecurity and infrastructure deficit were the region’s major challenges.

Mr Momoh said there was a need to do away with counterproductive power play and conflicts to make room for needed cooperation and collaboration to tackle the problems in the region and country.

Mr Eno advocated greater collaborations between the federal ministry and states in the region, promising that his administration would embrace cooperation and synergy with the federal government to foster positive development.

The Akwa Ibom governor commended President Bola Tinubu’s “inclusive” governance, going beyond party lines.

“I feel very happy that you really want to see for yourself the situation of our states and the people you are going to work with. Get to meet the governors and look beyond politics and think of how to develop our various states in partnership with the governors,” stated Mr Eno. “I will like to thank the approach of the President for his inclusivity in governance and it is a very welcome approach that this President is working with people across party lines.”

The Akwa Ibom governor added, “You can see his appointments. There are people from other parties there. You could see the things he is doing. He wants to carry everyone along. I always believed that party is a platform to seek election to serve our people. And once God has given us the opportunity which only him can do, next is to collaborate and serve the people.”

Mr Eno called for regular meetings of the leadership of the Niger Delta ministry with state governments in the region to explore the best ways to approach the peculiar development needs of the area to avoid duplication and conflicts in project execution.

(NAN)