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Tag: NGF

  • NGF: Saraki tackles Obi

    NGF: Saraki tackles Obi

    • Says I didn’t impose Amaechi

    • You can leave forum, Mimiko tells aggrieved govs

    Former Governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, yesterday, faulted Governor Peter Obi’s claim that he (Saraki) imposed Governor Rotimi Amaechi on the Nigeria Governors Forum ( NGF) as chairman in 2011.

    He said that although he did not mind Obi succeeding him as NGF chairman, PDP governors rejected the Anambra State governor.

    Saraki made the clarification in a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Akintoba Fatigun, against the backdrop of Obi’s statement at the weekend that the imposition of Amaechi on NGF started in 2011 when Amaechi was allegedly imposed on the governors by Saraki.

    But Saraki in his rebuttal explained how Amaechi emerged in 2011 as the NGF chairman.

    He said: “Governor Peter Obi was ex-Governor Bukola Saraki’s Vice-Chairman in NGF, and Obi believed he should be the natural successor to the chairmanship position of the NGF after Saraki’s tenure.

    “Although the former governor of Kwara State had no objection to that, there’s an unwritten law that the party in the majority (PDP) should continue to produce the chairman of the forum, because it has always been the tradition even before Saraki came on board.

    “So, it was decided that the chairmanship should remain in the South- East to compensate for Obi’s loss. Therefore, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, who is a PDP governor, was asked to step in as the next chairman, but he rejected the position on the excuse that he had too much to handle.

    “At this point, Saraki, who wanted a South- East Governor to take over from him, did not have an option, since Governor Elechi rejected the offer, than to concede the slot to the South-South reluctantly. The South- South governor in attendance were Governors Liyel Imoke, Timpre Sylva and Rotimi Amaechi. The three governors then retired into a private room to discuss who among them should pick the lot.”

    Saraki’s media aide added that after the closed door meeting, Imoke announced that they had all agreed that Amaechi after consultation with other South South governors has been picked to succeed him. He explained further that Obi was rejected by PDP governors and not Saraki, adding that “it was because he (Obi) was not allowed to take over that it was agreed that he should continue as Vice-Chairman.”

    However, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State added a new dimension to the NGF leadership tussle yesterday when he said aggrieved governors could opt out.

    Mimiko who is the deputy chairman of the Jang faction of the forum spoke during a meeting at the newly commissioned secretariat of the faction.

    According to him, “The Forum is a voluntary association. We came together as a forum of equals to be able to leverage on issues. So anybody can pull out without consequences on his position as governor of his state.”

    The governor said not one of the governors is proud of the current crisis in the NGF, stating however that “we believe that we must stand for what is right and just.”

    Defending the installation of Jang as the NGF chair, Mimiko said the election that threw up Amaechi as chair of the forum did not meet acceptable standard of election, “not even a village council election.”

    According to him, the result of the NGF poll did not reflect the true outcome of the election. Besides, Mimiko said the emergence of the NGF chair had always been by consensus and that Jang had already been picked as chairman through consensus.

    The governor dismissed the video recording of the election, describing it as a product of manipulation, predetermined and disrespectful. He challenged anyone to show the world where he (Mimiko) was captured casting his vote in the video.

    Jang, who chaired the meeting, said his faction was not aware of the video and described the recording as “morally wrong and corrupt”. According to him, the video was not an official recording of the forum, and, as such, remained untameable.

    “It is like the Abacha video. Who did the video? We are not aware of the video anyway. For Amaechi or any governor to hide a camera somewhere without the knowledge of the governors is morally wrong and corrupt.”

  • NGF election, ministers’ failure

    NGF election, ministers’ failure

    The Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, took off as a mere association of governors of the 36 states of the federation. At that time, many people thought they were just like any other association bonded by the desire to create a forum to discuss mutual issues concerning them personally and the states they govern. Yet there were many who thought the governors were only creating a forum for themselves for a different kind of jamboree different from the usual rollicking and frolicking that have been the characteristics of men of means and power. I belong to the last school of thought.

    However, events of the last five years or so, beginning with the election of the crown prince of Kwara politics, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, former two-term governor of Kwara State, as chairman of NGF, have proved cynics wrong. It was Saraki, the scion of the Saraki Dynasty of Ilorin, now a senator, who introduced glamour and candour into the group when he was chairman between 2007 and 2011.

    Saraki’s exit in 2011 paved the way for the emergence of Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi as chairman of the forum. The constitution of the NGF provides for a vice-chairman though both Saraki and Amaechi have, through their deft political moves, overshadowed that office and made the occupants more or less lame duck vice-chairmen whose voices are hardly heard anywhere beyond the day they are elected or handpicked. Amaechi upped the ante but has so far failed to display the political diplomacy and maturity of Saraki. Several times, the forum under the leadership of Amaechi has come into headlong collision with the Presidency on various national issues, including the issue of the creation of Sovereign Wealth Fund, which has seen the forum and the Presidency in various legal tussles in the courts, among other litigations. It is also under Amaechi as chairman of the NGF that Rivers State, the state he presides over as governor, took Bayelsa State, a sister state, on over the ownership of some disputed oil wells. The neighbouring Bayelsa State was carved out of Rivers State in 1995.

    Perhaps, the greatest issue that is causing Amaechi headache at the moment is the forthcoming 2015 elections. Amaechi is speculated to be having a vice presidential ambition after his second and last term as governor of Rivers State in 2015. Ahead of the NGF’s election that took place last Friday, Rivers State has been engulfed in multiple political crises which many people believe are man-made problems designed to distract Amaechi and possibly stop him from pursing his agenda to return as second-term chairman of the NGF. Another issue is the grounding of Amaechi’s Bombardier aircraft by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, which has dominated the airwaves and engendered national discourse for some time now. Another matter that has attracted national attention is the sweeping-off of the PDP state executive in Rivers State and its replacement with the Felix Obuah-led group. Obuah was allegedly shot in the groins a few years ago by suspected assassins. Amaechi loyalists said it took the grace of God and Amaechi, who flew him out of the country for treatment in South Africa, before his health stabilized. Now the same Obuah has turned round to stab his benefactor in the back through his imposition as Rivers PDP party’s chairman by a surprise court ruling.

    Amaechi has also been under the threat of impeachment for some time now. This impeachment moves are thought to be the handiwork of his foes, mainly some politicians in Abuja. The arrowhead of the sinister plots is said to be Nyesom Wike, the sitting minister of state for education, who is an indigene of Rivers State in the federal cabinet. Before that Godsday Orubebe, the minister of Niger Delta Affairs had traded volatile words extensively with Amaechi on the East-West Road project. Both Amaechi and Wike have since been embroiled in a titanic struggle for political power in Rivers State.

    The road to last Friday’s NGF election was long and tortuous. The entire nation was gripped with tension as the two camps in the contest – Amaechi and some PDP governors – made last-minute desperate attempts to ensure victory for their candidates. But Amaechi knew that it was one fight for his political life. The NGF election was postponed last March when it was earlier scheduled to take place. When the forum later met in April, the issue of election or no election never came up for discussion. Amaechi would have completed his term as NGF chairman last Monday, May 27.

    Apparently, it was in the desperate bid by the PDP to stop Amaechi’s candidacy that the ‘Abuja politicians’, led by Wike, have continued to mount political pressure on him by instigating the crisis that is currently rocking Rivers State politics. The aim is to pressure him out of contention for the NGF’s chief helmsman’s job. After two major futile attempts by Bamanga Tukur, the PDP chairman, to stop Amaechi, Tukur and his clique flew a kite: it floated the PDP Governors’ Forum and made Godswill Akpabio chairman of the forum. The PDP has 26 out of the existing 36 governors in the country. The main reason for taking this road is that Tukur believes he is facing stiff opposition to his position as chairman of the party from the NGF. He has, therefore, been surreptitiously doing everything to be a cog in NGF’s wheel of progress. Tukur believes that doing just that will whittle down the powers and influence of the NGF, take the shine of it and thereby cut whoever emerges as chairman to size. All these machinations didn’t work either. When this failed, PDP drafted Ibrahim Shema, the governor of Katsina State, instead of the charismatic and much-favoured Isa Yuguda, governor of Bauchi State, into the race.

    At the last minute on Friday, all other contenders were persuaded to step aside and David Jonah Jang, the second-term governor of Plateau State, was put forward as the PDP candidate. Jang then approached Olusegun Mimiko, the governor of Ondo State, to be his deputy. Before the contest, Mimiko was reportedly caught in-between the two groups, which had both nominated him vice-chairman. That election ended in near deadlock with the two camps laying claim to victory. That was not the end of the matter. The seeming failure of the PDP to wield its influence at the election and swing victory to his side is largely believed to have been caused by the lacklustre performance of some ministers as PDP representatives in the states. It is true that 10 of the states are controlled by the opposition, but if the 26 states under PDP, except perhaps Rivers State, where Amaechi calls the shots, had defaulted, what happened in the other 25 states? By the last count, only 17 PDP governors have lined up behind Jang to divide NGF into two equal haves.

    Many of the ministers, especially those who could not deliver their states to PDP last Friday, are believed to be out of tune with the political reality on the ground in their respective states as they regard the party as the only body they owe allegiance to and, therefore, their constituencies, which are their states back home, do not matter to them. Some are also in perpetual loggerheads with their governors because their obedience starts and ends with the PDP chairman, around whom they run rings and cringe. To those in this category, their people back home, especially their governors, do not matter. So instead of going to their respective states to consolidate and mend broken fences, at least for the NGF chairmanship election, they sat back in Abuja.

    Therefore, the outcome of last Friday’s NGF election portends a dangerous signal for 2015, and may sound the death knell of NGF except tact and caution are applied. Not the courts can be of any help!

     

  • Winners, losers of the battle for NGF

    Winners, losers of the battle for NGF

    The outcome of last Friday’s battle for the chair of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has continued to generate ripples across the country. But one thing that is certain is that it has produced winners and losers, writes AUGUSTINE AVWODE 

     

    Winners

    Rotimi Amaechi

    Leading the pack of the winners is Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi. He was able to retain his position as chairman of the Forum in the face of a massive opposition, particularly, from his party. He scored 19 votes to beat Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang with 16 votes.

     Pro-Amaechi governors

    There is no doubt that the support of the 11 progressive governors led by Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi turned the table in favour of the winner. To that extent, they too, are winners. They include all the governors of the Action Congress Nigeria (ACN), those of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the governors of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). As the progressive lawmakers in the House of Representatives swung the pendulum in favour of Aminu Tambuwal during the election of the Speaker, the governors played the decisive card for Amaechi last Friday. The seven other PDP governors who stood by Amaechi are also winners.

     Losers

    Jonathan

    The general perception is that Amaechi’s problems stemmed from his face-off with President Goodluck Jonathan. To that extent, it is believed he wanted another person as the chairman of the NGF. But Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Rueben Abati last weekend dissociated his boss from the crisis in the NGF.

    He said contrary to the impression of presidential partisanship and interference, Jonathan is not interested in whoever emerged as chairman. The popular view, however, remains that the president was a major loser in the contest.

     PDP Governors’ Forum

    Perhaps, the greatest losers are the PDP governors, who went into the contest as a unit under the aegis of the PDP Governors Forum (PDP-GF). Notwithstanding their numerical advantage, they were floored.

    PDP, Tukur, Anenih

    The PDP as a party, its chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and its Board of Trustees chair, Chief Tony Anenih also ‘tacitly’ supported the operation-get-rid-of-Amaechi- from-the-NGF-leadership project. The outcome has obviously jolted them.

     Shema and Yuguda

    Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema and his Bauchi State counterpart, Isa Yuguda can also be said to be losers. The fact that neither agreed to step down for the other marked the beginning of the end for the anti- Amaechi forces in the Forum. Their refusal to yield to entreaties led to the emergence of Governor Jonah Jang, who 48 hours to the election was not in the picture of those to contest the position.

     Jang

    His choice as a compromise candidate came rather late and he lost the race. Even though the PDP governors have rallied round him, the result did not favour him.

     Akpabio

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio is also in the league of the losers. He failed to rally his colleagues in the Forum he leads to actualise the wish of the party, despite their numerical strength. He played a prominent role in the campaign against Amaechi’s second term.

     Obi

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, who doubles as the chairman of the Southeast Governors, said the region’s governors would not support Amaechi. He reiterated the stance on Sunday, when he declared that four of the five governors in the region were for Jang.

     Imoke

    Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke, who leads the Southsouth Governors, also failed to rally his colleagues in the region to speak with one voice.

     

     

     

     

  • NGF crisis unfortunate, says ex-Perm Sec

    A retired Permanent Secretary in the old Ondo State, Chief Deji Fasuan, has described the crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) as unfortunate.

    Fasuan spoke with reporters yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

    The NGF now has two factions led by Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang.

    He said: “It is a tragedy of a nation that a forum which has no constitutional backing or legal sanctity could generate such furore among the ruling elite in Nigeria. The ongoing division between the Nigeria Governors’ Forum is a bad omen for the country.”

    “The NGF operates freely like a drivers’ union or hairdressers’ union. I ask why must a nation be made to stand still by a mere forum that has no bearing for the welfare of the people?

    “The truth must be told. We have seen the handwriting of 2015 on the wall. There will be two presidents in 2015, one legal, the other declaring himself president.

    “This we must admit will add up to the existing scenario that something negative might happen to this country in 2015. We should watch out.”

  • NGF election as eye-opener

    NGF election as eye-opener

    President Goodluck Jonathan insists he has nothing to do with fracturing the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) or the crisis that attended the election into the chairmanship of the Forum. Nobody believes him. It is doubtful whether he believes himself. Everyone is probably puzzled, wondering how Nigeria declined so precipitously that no one believes the president anymore. President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) had contempt for the truth; President Umaru Yar’Adua (2007-2009) evaded the truth; and now Jonathan (2009- ) is manipulating the truth. If the country cannot trust its president; and if the president cannot give his word and stand by it, how would the huge edifice called Nigeria stand?

    Thirty-five governors voted in the NGF election on Friday in Abuja. No vote was voided. Nineteen supported Mr Amaechi, and 16 went with Mr Jang, governor of Plateau State. But this extremely simple act of voting and of winning and losing an election became so complicated that the whole country is embarrassed. A returning officer declared the election lost and won. And it was an election in which supposedly the best and the brightest of Nigeria’s politicians, the governors, were involved. They were expected to be the embodiment of truth, correctness and wisdom. None of them was expected to indulge in self-help. But not only did one of the governors swear they had to restrain themselves from exchanging blows on account of some perceived wrongs, those who lost simply ignored the courts and preferred self-help by declaring themselves winners and setting up their own paraphernalia of office. The tragedy they had just enacted was lost on them.

    First, they proved incapable of organising the simplest election, in which the voting population was nothing more than 35 supposedly well-educated and polished political aristocrats. Instead, they turned out to be little better than a riotous bunch from the country’s worst slums. Second, they were supposed to be the embodiment of correct behaviour, of gravitas, of nobility. But they turned out to be so ordinary even schoolboys would be bewildered. And thirdly, in spite of the presidency’s constant protestations of innocence, and consequent upon the defeated governors’ remarks and movements, it is clear the stunned losers are being manipulated by the presidency.

    It is indeed troubling to realise that the Jonathan presidency will not expire until many top Nigerian politicians have been unmasked and demystified. Recall how many otherwise sound and sensible politicians were unmasked in the betrayal of the June 12, 1993 election and under the Gen Sani Abacha military government. The demystification continued under the Obasanjo and Yar’Adua governments, and is now continuing furiously under the Jonathan government. Dr Jonathan, it is well known, is desperate to master the 2015 elections and wishes, among other things, to control the NGF. He will do anything, no matter how demeaning, to accomplish his goals.

    The otherwise soft-spoken Mr Jang propounds a gentle theology of God and elections in which his sudden entrance into the NGF race last Friday was attributable to God, and his loss, by the most amazing sophistry ever, indistinguishably became victory. One of these days, Hardball will discourse upon Mr Jang’s frolics between Einstein’s relativity (God does not play dice with the world) and Cartesian dualism (Cogito ergo sum). That’ll be the day! Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, who has lent himself lock, stock and barrel for Dr Jonathan’s capricious use, forsakes reason so joyously that, for him, there is no limit to his self-abnegating commitment to the president’s cause. The cost to his own integrity and principles is nothing compared to his fanatical and imponderable show of loyalty.

    The NGF debacle has done us more good than injury. It is an eye-opener; and we now know where we stand. It has revealed the poor mettle of our governors. It has also more importantly revealed the disdain the president has for his oath of office. He had sworn thus: “I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I will discharge my duties to the best of my ability, faithfully and in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the law, and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…that I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions; that I will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…that in all circumstances, I will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will…”

    It would be presumptuous of us to remind the president and his colluding governors the weighty oath they took on assumption of office. Apart from the distinct possibility that they have forgotten the wordings or its import in their meaningless struggle for the NGF chairmanship, there is no proof they ever meant a word of it.

     

  • NGF: Divided they stand

    NGF: Divided they stand

    The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) election has come and gone. But the ripples it has generated will take a long time to settle, writes Assistant Editor AUGUSTINE AVWODE.

     

    THINGS have fallen apart in the Nigerian Gover- nor’s Forum, the most elitist political group in the country.

    Less than 48 hours to the election that has generated much tension, an aide to one of the governors from the Southsouth told The Nation, that it would end an anti-climax. He dismissed what he called “all the hype and exaggerated build-up to the election.” The source maintained that nothing spectacular would happen.

    However, the outcome of the election and the developments that have followed it have pointed to only one fact – it is not “case closed” yet. If anything, it has exposed the Forum to a bitter feud and internal wrangling. It has dwindled the ability of the Forum to speak with one voice.

     

    Bone of contention

     

    The bone of contention was whether Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi should seek re-election or not. The Constitution of the Forum clearly gives the incumbent the opportunity to seek another two- years in office, if he so desires. But, among the governors, there has been opposition to the ambition of Amaechi to seek re-election. Expectedly, this led to the polarisation of the Forum into two – those for the re-election and those that are against it. The factions have spent valuable time plotting and strategising. The intrigues have been palpable. In one instance, a new body comprising of only the governors of the Peoples Democratic (PDP-GF) was formed and Akwa Ibom State Governor Goodswill Akpabio emerged as its chairman.

    At the weekend, Amaechi was re-elected. But his victory was quickly rejected by the group, which has been opposed to his return as the NGF chair.

     

    Amaechi’s offence

     

    Amaechi’s offence, it was learnt, was that he turned the Forum into a “trade union”. He was said to be critical of the President and his pro-grammes. Besides, it was said that his alleged ambition to run for vice-president in 2015 would jeopardise the chances of President Jonathan.

    According to the poll results, Amaechi secured 19 votes to Governor Jonah Jang’s 16. Since then, things have never been the same for the Forum. Jang’s supporters have discredited the election. They are: Akpabio, Jang, Idris Wada of Kogi, Gabriel Suswam of Benue, Sullivan Chime of Enugu, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi, Theodore Orji of Abia, Peter Obi of Anambra and Isa Yuguda of Bauchi. Others are: Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina, Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna, Garba Umar of Taraba, Ahmed Abdulfatah of Kwara, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, Liyel Imoke of Cross River, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa and Gombe State Deputy Governor, Thaanod Rubainu. The rest, mostly from the opposition parties, are on the side of Amaechi.

     

    Stable past

     

    The NGF has been relatively stable, since it was founded in 1999.Though it is not recognised by the 1999 Constitution, the Forum has grown to wield enormous powers and influence. Its existence has largely been justified by the provision in Section 40 of the Constitution for individuals to enjoy the right of association

    From inception till now, the NGF has been led by five individuals. It started with former Governor of Nasarawa State Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu from inception in 1999 to 2004. He was succeeded by former Akwa Ibom State Governor Obong Victor Attah who led it from 2004 to 2006. Next to chair the Forum was former Edo State Governor Chief Lucky Igbinedion. He led it from 2006 to 2007. Thereafter, former Kwara State Governor Senator Bukola Saraki took over the mantle of leadership of the Forum. He was there for the four years his second term lasted from 2007 till 2011. Amaechi took over in 2011.

    The last time a similar leadership crisis rocked the Forum was in 2011. Then, former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel, who had been named as the new leader, was removed in a dramatic fashion. But the Forum was not polarised. This is the first time since its formation, that the group will split into two. Already, the campled by Jang has set up a parallel secretariat from where it hopes to operate.

     

    Implications

     

    The implications for the Forum could be far reaching. First, the Presidency is now at liberty to recognise and deal with the faction it endorses. Second, the masses would bear the brunt in one way or another. Any position canvassed by a governor that is not among the recognised group may not get the attention it deserves.

    Besides, it may mark be the beginning of a major realignment of forces in the build- up to the 2015 general election. But will the NGF be the same again? The answer is a resounding no.

     

  • NGF: Jang blames crisis on governors’ ‘presidential ambitions’

    NGF: Jang blames crisis on governors’ ‘presidential ambitions’

    Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, the newly elected chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), has blamed the crisis rocking the forum on the presidential ambition of some of its members.

    Jang, who addressed journalists at Jos airport shortly after his arrival from Abuja, said that some of the governors wanted to be the President in 2015.

    “The crisis in the governors’ forum is simply as a result of 2015 elections; some governors want to contest the presidential election but only God knows who will be the President,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the governor as saying on Sunday.

    Jang, however, called for unity among the governors, pledging to lead the forum “with the fear of God.

    “As chairman of the forum, I will work with all members, particularly the former Chairman, Governor Rotimi Amaechi; I wish to appeal to him to fully support me just like I supported him during his tenure,’’ he said.

    Jang described his election “as the will of God’’, saying that God’s plans would always prevail over the thoughts and schemes of man.

    “I have never aspired to be the chairman of the forum; I never put my name forward to contest for the position of the forum. All I did was to ask God for His will to prevail,’’ he said.

     

  • NGF Election: A joke that went too far

    Last week Friday, what we witnessed as a nation in the name of election was appalling. Many have condemned what is now the sour grape of the governors, especially of the PDP who thought that the election was like the exercise of their personal fiefdoms in their states where election is a coronation rather than a contest. After Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi won his reelection as the chairman the Nigerian Governors Forum, an advert ran on page 66 of The Sun of May 25 and showed signatures of the governors who purportedly signed their agreement to oust the current chairmen of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. The whole thing was pathetic. It is obvious that it is a forgery.

    First, number two of the opening section ran: “That we strongly agree for a change of leadership of the forum from April 2013 to April 2013.” The two installments of April on the document were cancelled and May was superimposed on it. The governors who put together the advert were not clever enough to remove evidence of the April. So anyone who read the advert wondered why May on top of April. It was a shabby way to cancel a word. And that showed that the April that was written on it was actually when the document was put together. They hurriedly published it in desperation after the election did not go their way. This is insincerity of the highest order. At the bottom of the document, they dated it 24 of May 2013. They said the 19 signatures voted for Governor Jang. Even if it was true that they all signed the signature, does endorsement automatically translate to vote. It was a secret ballot, and clearly some of those who claimed to belong to Jonathan and Jang did not do so when it mattered. That is how insincere they are about elections, and is that how they won? By fantasy?

    If they thought they had fooled anyone, hear this. The governor of Yobe, Ibrahim Gaidam, was not present. He was out of town, so how did they conjure up the signature beside his name? How come his signature was there? This is extreme forgery, and how many of the signatures there were forged? The police ought to investigate this. This seems like criminality writ large.

    Again, if you examined the handwriting, you will discover that many were written by the same hand. Compare, for instance, the S in Akpabio’s first name Godswill of Akwa Ibom State and the S in Suswan. Look also at the S in Sullivan as in Sullivan Chime of Enugu State.

    Is this how the governors ran elections and won? Is this how they governed their states? This is a disgrace.

    If one man won an election, why the hullaballoo of rejection? Why the nervousness and the huffing and puffing. President Goodluck Jonathan is the culprit in chief in this matter. Why has he now, through his spokesman Reuben Abati, distanced himself from the ignominy? Was it not at the Aso Villa that the PDP Governors’ Forum was inaugurated to undermine Governor Amaechi’s authority? It is indeed too late in the day to play statesman when he enjoyed the public pains of Amaechi in the hope he would lose the election.

    The whole thing was videotaped. So, why the dispute over the result in what was transparent? President Jonathan is destroying the sole force that he climbed to power. It was the Nigerian Governors’ Forum that muscled influence and fought the Yar’Adua forces. We cannot forget the doctrine of necessity. Now, after planting confusion, he says he knows nothing about it. What a farce.

  • NGF: We should work together for Nigeria – Jang

    NGF: We should work together for Nigeria – Jang

    Governor of Plateau State, Jonah David Jang, has called on his rival Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and all members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to work together in the interest of the nation.

    Jang made the call on Sunday on his arrival at the Yakubu Gowon International Airport, Jos, shortly after attending the NGF meeting in Abuja.

    He said, “I have been given an assignment to chair the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and by the grace of God I will do my best to unite this forum and to make sure the Forum give the right leadership to people of Nigeria because we are the ones that govern the states.

    “I’m advocating that we must work together as leaders of our various states. I am also appealing to my colleagues in the NGF that the election or selection processes, whichever way you may call it, should not divide us as leaders of our people. We have one purpose as members of the NGF and as leaders elected by our people.

    “We have worked with Governor Rotimi Amaechi when he was the chairman of NGF, I now expect him to join his colleagues and work with me now that I am the Chairman of the Forum, so that we continued to give Nigerians the right leadership expected of us,” the Plateau governor said.

    He was received at the airport by top government functionaries in the state led by his deputy Ambass Ignatius Longjan and secretary to the state government Prof. Shedrach Best.

     

     

  • NGF crisis: Jang group plots Amaechi’s expulsion from PDP

    NGF crisis: Jang group plots Amaechi’s expulsion from PDP

    • Pro-Amaechi governors launch counter-plot to sack Akpabio

    • Aggrieved governors meet VP, Anenih

    The battle for the soul of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) got messier yesterday with the anti-Amaechi forces pushing for the expulsion of the Rivers State Governor from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Amaechi was re-elected for a second term on Friday at an election in Abuja, polling 19 votes to the 16 for Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State.

    His election was immediately disputed by a group of governors comprising Jang, Godswill Akpabio and 16 others who proclaimed Jang as the authentic chairman of the NGF.

    The group had its ‘maiden’ meeting in Abuja and resolved to create its own secretariat.

    A delegation took their case to Vice President Namadi Sambo in the absence of President Goodluck Jonathan who is in Ethiopia, and the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chief Antony Anenih.

    Amaechi is currently not in the good books of the President, his main offence being his alleged political ambition in 2015 which is perceived to be in conflict with that of the president.

    He is being tipped as running mate to Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State.

    Both Lamido and Amaechi have denied the allegation.

    However, a counter plot by the pro-Amaechi governors in the PDP is also in the works. They are rooting for proper election of the Chairman of the recently formed PDP Governors Forum.

    It was set up by the party’s leadership as part of the strategy to curb alleged excesses of Amaechi who, in their opinion, was using the NGF against the interest of the President.

    Gov Akpabio, a pro-Jonathan governor, was selected to lead the group and he is now the arrow head of the Jang group.

    Moments after their meeting at the Benue State Governor’s Lodge, Governors Akpabio, Jang and Garba Umar (Acting governor of Taraba) drove to Anenih’s residence. Time was 2.30 pm. The meeting lasted one hour.

    From there they proceeded to the Presidential Villa to see the Vice President.

    Details of that meeting were not immediately available.

    All the 19 governors who voted for the re-election of Amaechi as the NGF chairman are not relaxing either.

    They plan to come out and openly identify with his leadership, sources said yesterday.

    Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the anti-Amaechi governors met three times between Friday night and 2pm yesterday on how to curtail Amaechi.

    It was gathered that one of the issues on the agenda was the need to expel Amaechi from the party. They said they strongly suspected that Amaechi has been working in collaboration with the opposition to “ridicule the presidency and the PDP.”

    They also decided not to accept the result of the Friday election by going ahead with a parallel NGF headed by Jang and strengthening the PDP Governors Forum.

    A source said: “The anti-Amaechi forces are still shocked by how the Rivers State Governor won the re-election. They also blamed some of the governors for walking away quietly from the election venue without creating a scene by rejecting the poll result on the spot.

    “Initially, some of the aggrieved governors thought of going to court to stop Amaechi from being recognised as the NGF chairman but they feared that they might not be able to secure an ex-parte injunction. They said a political option is a quick-win one.”The grand plot now is to prevail on the PDP leadership to expel Amaechi from the party because the ruling party ought to produce NGF chairman.

    “They said since the PDP structure in Rivers State has been hijacked from Amaechi, the new leadership of the state chapter should be mandated to initiate his suspension and expulsion.

    “At the closed-door session, they also agreed to recognise Jang’s leadership instead of Amaechi’s.”

    But some of the 19 governors, who backed Amaechi, have also launched a counter-plot to hijack the PDP Governors Forum from Governor Godswill Akpabio.

    About 13 out of the 23 members of the PDP Governors Forum have hatched another plan to call for “a proper election into the chairmanship of the Forum”

    Another source added: “The next battle is going to be at the PDP Governors Forum because Akpabio’s leadership was an imposition. We want election into the PDP Governors Forum.

    “Already, 13 out of 23 members of the PDP Governors Forum have met and agreed to call for “a proper election.” The game is now certainly a tit-for- tat one.”

    A source in Amaechi’s camp said: “they will soon see that Amaechi is the legally elected chairman of the NGF.

    “We saw it coming by video recording the election. They tried their best to stop the recording of the voting process but we were adamant.

    “If they go ahead to witch-hunt Amaechi, all the governors who accounted for the 19 votes will now come out to address the press.”