Joint responsibility and closer collaboration between the federal and sub-national governments will foster rapid infrastructural development across the land, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, told members of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday.

The President told governors from the 36 states to do away with the federal, state, or rural road classifications, but join forces on development.

Tinubu spoke when he hosted members of the NGF at his Ikoyi, Lagos residence. The Forum was led by its chair, Kwara State Governor AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman.

He seized the opportunity of the visit to update the governor on the step he had taken on the N27.5 trillion 2024 Appropriation Bill.

The President told the governors that he had a review meeting earlier in the day with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Atiku Bagudu.

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The review, he said, centred on certain elements in the Appropriation Bill.

Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, who dropped the hint in a statement, gave no details on the tripartite meeting on the budget.

The said the president emphasized the need for joint responsibility and closer collaboration between the federal and sub-national governments to foster rapid infrastructural development in every part of the nation.

It reads: “I want us to discard federal, state, or rural road classifications. We must regard development as a joint responsibility. Let us prioritize our children. The school feeding programme must return quickly… beginning from the local government to the state and federal governments.

“We must be ready to protect our children and prepare them for the future.”

Abdulrahman reaffirmed state governments’ support for the bold decisions and reforms initiated by the Tinubu-led administration.

“These are challenging times. It is not a walk in the park. Removing fuel subsidies had a great structural effect on the economy of the states. But we are confident that we will overcome these challenges and bounce back better,” the Kwara helmsman said.