Federal government is procuring more equipment in its bid to overcome the security challenges in various parts of the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed this to members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum at a security meeting held on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

His special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, gave an update on what was discussed at the meeting.

The promise the President made was that in terms of equipping, more equipment were being procured – some had come and there was the need to train our forces to use them and more will come,” he said.

President Buhari also appealed to the governors to work with the traditional and local authorities in their various territories to tackle the security challenges across the country.

He stressed the need for a smooth relationship between the state authorities and the grassroots leaders to boost intelligence gathering.

The President, who stated that intelligence gathering was key to the nation’s security, stressed that people must be discouraged from sabotaging the efforts of the security forces.

Asked if the issue of engaging mercenaries and recruiting young Nigerians from the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) into the Nigerian Army came up at the meeting, the presidential aide responded, “No, not specifically; that did not come up.”

He added, “But I know one governor from the North East mentioned it in person, but it was not something the meeting dwelt on.”

The governors, led by the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, met with President Buhari a week after the forum held a virtual meeting.

They had resolved to meet with the President over the killing of over 40 farmers in Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents, and the disturbing security situation of the nation.

Members of the Senate, who were also worried about the Borno massacre, had asked the President to replace the service chiefs with new ones with fresh ideas.

They also recommended among others, the provision of state-of-the-art equipment for the military and recruitment of over 10,000 youths from the Civilian JTF into the army to defeat the insurgents in the North East.

President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to address a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday.

The House of Representatives last Tuesday resolved to invite the President, with the Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila confirming that he accepted the proposal.

But, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, urged the leadership of the House to meet with the President privately for national security reasons.

He told reporters in Owerri, the state capital, that the lawmakers could still get the same answers by meeting with President Buhari privately.

The governor argued that discussing issues of national security publicly could be counterproductive, insisting that an open discourse on national security could turn out to be a threat to national security itself.

According to him, apart from compromising national security, such an appearance would offer the enemies of the country the window to know the weakness of the nation.

The governor acknowledged that it was the constitutional responsibility of the parliament to demand answers from the executive on any matter, but counselled discretion when security is involved.

Uzodimma advised that the leaders of the House should seek an audience with the President on the matter after which they would brief other members at an executive session.

He advised the various committees on army, airforce and navy to interface with the security agencies for details on the security challenges facing the nation.

The Imo governor maintained that the elected representatives should exercise caution in the matter of national security lest the country may be made even more vulnerable in the process.

He deplored a situation where some people continue to blame the President for the security challenges without appreciating the efforts to curtail them.