Crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) got messier at the weekend as Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, declared that the forum of 36 state governors had no working constitution since establishment in 1999.
His Anambra State counterpart, Peter Obi, also gave stunning account of how PDP ignited the succession crisis in the forum when it frustrated his emergence as successor to Senator Bukola Saraki in 2011. Saraki as Kwara State governor handed over to Rotimi Amaechi.
Addressing newsmen at the secretariat of the faction of NGF led by Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, Governor Imoke submitted that the ‘constitution’ of the forum existed for the purposes of its registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
He further said there was no meeting of the forum since its 14 years of existence where its constitution was endorsed, ratified, or approved by the 36 governors. Imoke challenged the Governor Rotimi Amaechi faction to produce minutes of any meeting of the NGF where its constitution was ratified.
The Cross River State governor recalled that successive chairmen of the forum had emerged by consensus, further claiming that there was an understanding that the chairmanship of the forum would rotate between the North and South to avoid acrimony that often arise when a leader emerges through the electoral process.
Corroborating Governor Imoke’s assertion at the media session, leader of the faction, Jonah Jang, told newsmen that a committee set up by governors to produce a draft constitution with Namadi Sambo (then governor of Kaduna State) never concluded its assignment before Sambo emerged as Vice-President to Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
Deputy chairman of the forum and Ondo State Governor, Segun Mimiko, also restated his aversion to how Governor Amaechi fought for re-election, noting that all efforts to prevail on him not to preside over the conduct of an election where he was an aspirant failed.
But reacting to the claim of Governor Peter Obi that he was frustrated out of the NGF leadership in 2011, Senator Saraki in a statement claimed there was an understanding that a PDP governor from the South-East should succeed him, adding that none of the PDP governors from the zone showed interest.
“At the meeting in Ilorin, the PDP governors insisted that office of chairman of the NGF must go to the party with majority and no South-East PDP governor wanted to be chairman, we first offered the seat to Ebonyi governor but he rejected it. Later, the meeting reluctantly asked the South-South governors to produce the chairman.
Governors Amaechi, Imoke and Timpre Sylva were asked to choose among them who becomes chairman and they entered a room and later came out with the choice of Amaechi. So, there was no manipulation, but a matter of conventional rule of the majority party,” he said.
But reacting to the claim of governor Peter Obi that he was frustrated out of the race for NGF leadership in 2011, Senator Bukola Saraki in a statement claimed that there was an understanding that the a PDP governor from south-east should succeed him, and further claimed that none of the PDP governors from the zone showed interest.
“At the meeting in Ilorin, when the PDP governors insisted that the office of chairman of the NGF must go to the party with majority and no south-east PDP governor wanted to be chairman. We first offered the seat to Ebonyi governor and he rejected it. Later, the meeting reluctantly asked the south-south governors to produce the chairman.
Governors Amaechi, Imoke and Timpre Sylva were asked to choose of them to become the chairman and they entered a room and later came out with the choice of Amaechi. So there was no manipulation, but a matter of conventional rule of the majority party”, he said.
..... The Sun newspaper.
This is how they rule Nigeria, can you imagine?
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