Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday met behind closed doors with some state governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, according to sources, may not be unconnected with the controversy trailing establishment of Ruga settlements across the country.
Those at the meeting included governors of Ebonyi, Dave Umahi, Plateau, Simon Lalong, Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu, the Deputy Governor of Adamawa state, Martins Nasir.
The Presidency through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu had recently said that the Ruga settlements across the 36 states of the federation was aimed at bringing lasting solutions to the farmers/herders clashes and also to create jobs.
While it was alleged that the office of the Vice President was directly supervising the Ruga project, Osinbajo, through his spokesman, Laolu Akande denied having any knowledge of the project.
Debunking the insinuation that the Vice President is the brain behind the ruga settlements, Akande said, “The National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) 2019-2028 is a programme to be implemented in seven pilot states of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara (as decided by NEC in January), being States in the frontlines of the Farmer-Herder crises. Afterwards, six other States have indicated readiness to also implement the plan. They are Katsina, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Ondo, and Edo states.
“The plan has six pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria along market oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice.
“The six key pillars include: economic investment, conflict resolution, justice and peace, humanitarian relief and early recovery, human capital development and cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, research and information and strategic communication.”
The National Livestock Transformation Plan approved by State governors under the National Economic Council, NEC, is chaired by the Vice President.
NEC had on January 17, 2019, approved the plan based on the recommendations of a Technical Committee of the Council chaired by Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State.