NGF ELECTION VIDEO GOES VIRAL ON INTERNET

Unidentified gov: Osun what is that? What are you doing there? Aregbesola replied: Can you repeat yourself... come again, what did you say? Can you repeat yourself? Abdulfatah of Kwara: Egbon e ma se be (senior, don’t do that). Aregbesola: I am recording, I want to be sure that nobody does anything wrong here. Fayemi: DG, count now!

THE footage of the recently conducted Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) election went viral on the Internet on Tuesday, as a steady trickle of people gradually gathered in their offices, homes and business centres to watch the video and even post it to friends and acquitances on Youtube, moments after it became popular online.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, claimed he was recording the sequence of events, when a suspecting colleague asked to know what he was doing with his mobile phone.

The recording captured the momentous parts of the secret ballot which was noisy and disorderly.

Nonetheless, at the end of the vote count by the Director General of the Forum, Mr Asishana Okauru, keenly supervised by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State secured 19 votes to defeat his challenger, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, who polled 16 votes.

The counting of votes was collectively done.

It was a charged atmosphere.

The gathering of first citizens of Nigeria’s 36 states to elect a leader among themselves was preceded by a rowdy session.

As if on a film location, after the election, Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State, standing close to Governor Ahmed Abdulfatah of Kwara State,  charged at the presiding officer to start counting.

It was a tensed session as the returning officer was somehow reluctant to count the votes initially. Governor Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State were seen on the same row with Fayemi, when a voice suddenly yelled: “Osun, what is that?” obviously talking to Governor Aregbesola, adding: “What are you doing there?” as if trying to caution him against an unpalatable development.

An unidentified governor angrily charged at Aregbesola when he suspected his action, asking for what he was doing with his phone.

Aregbesola replied that he was recording the proceedings.

Furthermore, Aregbesola, believed to be a supporter of Governor Amaechi, in his characteristic manner asked: “Can you repeat yourself... come again, what did you say? Can you repeat yourself?”

At this point, Fayemi and Abdulfatah intervened, calming him down (Aregbesola), speaking in Yoruba, “egbon e ma se be,” which means “senior, don’t do that.”

Not minding whose ox is gored, Aregbesola was quick to repeat that he was recording the proceeding.

“I am recording, I want to be sure that nobody does anything wrong here,” Aregbesola said.

“Why are you videoing me,” Governor Akpabio, who had already left his front seat and had gone to the back to queried Aregbesola,” but Fayemi quickly intervened, saying, “he is not videoing you.”

They eventually laughed over the matter and they all calmed down for the vote count.

The returning officer, supervised by Governor Uduaghan of Delta State, counted the total vote cast to be 35.

Thereafter, two chairs were brought forward to separate votes for Jang and Amaechi, with Jang initially being favoured as the votes were being separated, a voice came from the audience, shouting “Jang in early lead.”

It later dawned on them that Amaechi had carried the day, as he had 19 votes counted in his favour against 16 counted for Jang. 

Amaechi wanted to be NGF chairman by all means —Suswam
Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State  has described his counterpart in Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi as a desperate man who wanted to hold onto the position of chairman Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) by all means.

Suswam  stated this  in a Radio Benue interactive programme, aired Tuesday in Makurdi  to commemmorate this year’s Democracy Day anniversary.

Suswam said that the Rivers State governor wanted to cajole his fellow governors to endorse his emergence as chairman of the forum.

According to Governor Suswam, “before that election, 18 out of 19 of us at the Northern Governors Forum meeting had met and unanimously endorsed Governor Jonah Jang as our consensus candidate without exception.

“That position was also endorsed at the PDP Governors’ Forum, where the governor of Niger State  presented our position to the effect that we had endorsed Jang and we all unanimously adopted it without exception.

“When we met at the Nigeria Governors Forum, we noticed that our constitution which was registered was produced at the meeting and we objected to it because we had not seen it in two years.

“And before then, 19 of us had signed an endorsement of Governor Jang as our candidate, the document and signatures are there and none of them can deny it.

“Now, we were confronted with Governor Amaechi who insisted on contesting and that he had printed ballot papers for the election. It was strange because the same person who was contesting had printed ballot papers for same election.”

“Of course it was alien to us and we objected to it vehemently. Why the desperation that you must be chairman? I must recall that before now, we had never conducted elections into the Governors’ Forum.

“All we do is to nominate somebody to lead, after all I am not compelled to attend all these forum meetings. But we do this for the purpose of pear review and also share intelligence, nothing more.

“Being the chairman of the forum does not make you a better governor than any of us. It all shows some level of desperation, otherwise people say they have elected their leader and you are insisting that you must be chairman,” he stressed.

Amaechi’s suspension, a cumulative action —Balarabe Musa
The National Chairman of the de-registered Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, on Tuesday said that the suspension of Governor Amaechi of Rivers was as a result of cumulative actions.

He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that there was more to the suspension than what the PDP made the general public to believe.

He said that the suspension carried more malice than just winning an election at the just concluded Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

Balarabe said that the PDP with their action was sending a dangerous signal to the nation towards the 2015 elections and it must be checked.

“The suspension of Amaechi was a desperate action. I am not talking as an opposition, but as a politician with greater interest in the democratic dispensation of the country.

He said that because of the political future of Nigeria, every politician must see the action as a warning signal which must not be handled with sentiments.

Your votes must count in 2015 – Amaechi
 Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi has declared that the people’s votes must count in the choice of who becomes the governor of the state in 2015.

 Addressing an inter-party summit with the theme “Cohesive inter-party relations as a panacea for peace and sustainable development in Rivers State”, in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Tuesday, Governor Amaechi noted that any government which could not attribute its victory to the people’s votes would not be responsible to the people.

 He said government at all levels become transparent and accountable only when they fear they could be voted out for poor performance.

 Amaechi said: “Indeed, it is only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that has the guts to suspend a governor without a reason. I leave them to God and to you (the people).... We must come together to defend Rivers State.  It’s not about me, I have served eight years as Speaker, nearly six years as Governor.  Even if I am removed tomorrow, I am satisfied that this state, this country and history will recognize and remember me.”

 “If there is no history that I have made, the one God has helped me to make is the one that I stood out and fought for my right and became a governor.  You voted on my behalf and the Supreme Court confirmed that when you people were voting, you were voting for me.  But you also need to make your own history and that history is that let Abuja know that you can stand for your right, whether you belong to PDP or APC or any other party.”

 “If you listen to me yesterday (Monday) when I was addressing Rivers youths, I told them ‘all those from 18 and above should please get up’ and they got up.  I asked them to sit down, they did and I asked again, ‘all those that have voters’ card should please get up’ and a lot of them did and I said we shall punish irresponsible politicians with our cards.  So what I expect from all of you whether you belong to APC, CPC, where ever you belong to, start now to mobilize the state for one man, one vote.  We will not allow them intimidate us with police or anything. Instead, we shall intimidate them with our votes”, Amaechi said.

Keynote Speaker and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Senator Magnus Abe urged politicians in the state to preserve and not destroy Rivers State by their actions.

 He lamented the lack of participatory democracy among political parties and the sole desire by parties to acquire and retain political power for selfish interests.

 Abe said, “In Nigeria, the evolution of our party politics has been less than satisfactory. I say this because our country today is deeply divided along ethnic, religious and cultural lines. The main challenge facing our country has been the development of national political parties that will promote issue and idea-based contest for power. In other words, the contest for power will be a contest of ideas. The parties in Nigeria have evolved into vehicles strictly for the acquisition and retention of political power. In this evolution, our political parties have lost one of the key attributes of participatory democracy, that leadership should be a contest not of persons but of ideas.”

Jang invites Amaechi to NGF’s new office opening
Factional Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Plateau State has invited the rival leader of the other faction, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state to the opening of the new secretariat of the NGF in Abuja on Thursday.

Also invited are all other governors in the country including those who voted agains the Plateau governor, national chairmen of political parties who have state governors and members of the the National Assembly.

Thursday’s opening of a new NGF’s secretariat is in fulfillment of his post-election pledge to secure a befitting national secretariat for the NGF so that it would no longer have its meeting in governors’ lodge as was the case in the past.  

The new secretariat which is located on  Alvan Ikoku Street in Maitama District Abuja is expected to be declared open by Vice President Namadi Mohammed Sambo by 4.00 pm.

Mr. Osaro Onaiwu, who has been appointed as the Sole Administrator of the NGF pending the appointment of a substantive Director General, confirmed in Abuja on Tuesday that letters of invitation have already been sent to all those expected to grace the occasion.

Meanwhile, some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors opposed to Jang’s leadership are putting pressure on the national leadership of the party to convey a meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) which the party has been unwilling to organize to discuss the crisis in the party.

The Nigerian Tribune learnt that the disgruntled governors have vowed to remain within the PDP rather than be pressured to decamp to other political parties as a result of the crisis in the ruling party.

Jang apologises
Piqued by the controversy trailing the outcome of the election of Nigeria Governors Forum last week, the chairman of the Forum, Governor Jonah David Jang of Plateau State has on behalf of the 36 Governors in the country apologised to Nigerians over some of the issues raised by the Forum last elections.

Governor Jang  apologised when he received the Peoples Democratic Party, Vice Chairman, North Central Zone, Yusuf Ayitogo, who led the Executive Council on a solidarity visit to him over his election as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

Governor Jang, who said under democratic setting people are sometime bound to disagree to agree said  under his leadership, corrections will be made while efforts will be intensified in the reconciliation process.

The Chairman of the Forum who said the NGF is guided by the original constitution of the Forum which never gives a second tenure enjoined Nigerians  to critically examine the constitution of the forum in line the controversy trailing the outcome of its meeting last week.

The NGF Chairman restated the commitment of the Governors to cooperate with Mr. President for the development and growth of our democracy and considered himself an instrument in the hands of God to bring reconciliation and unity in the Forum.

Vice Chairman PDP, North Central Zone, Yusuf Ayitogo, affirmed their belief in the capacity and ability of Governor Jang to stir the NGF towards realizing its aim in Nigeria.

He appreciated his colleagues, Governors for the confidence reposed in him saying it is a victory to the North Central Zone and the Northern part of the country.

Source: Tribune