President
Goodluck Jonathan has moved to formally recognise Plateau State Governor, Jonah
Jang, as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
Jonathan
had consistently denied any link to the intrigues that preceded the May 24
election of a new chairman of the forum.
The
President had also denied backing any candidate after a crisis erupted over the
declaration that Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, beat Jang by 19 – 16
votes in the election.
But,
Jonathan shifted ground on Thursday night at the PDP family dinner in Abuja,
when in his address he recognised Jang as “the chairman of the NGF.”
On
Friday, the Plateau State governor led 12 governors and two deputy governors to
a meeting with the President, where a source said Jonathan formally recognised
Jang as the winner of the election and pledged to do all in his power to ensure
a smooth tenure for Jang.
Jonathan’s
volte-face came some days after a video recording of the election was circulated
on social media and shown on a private television station. The recording
indicated that Amaechi actually got 19 votes while Jang garnered 16.
Governors
at Friday’s meeting were Liyel Imoke (Cross River); Segun Mimiko (Ondo);
Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Peter Obi (Anambra); Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa);
Theodore Orji (Abia); Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); Ibrahim Dakwambo (Gombe); Godswill
Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Idris Wada (Kogi); Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Isa Yuguda
(Bauchi).
The
deputy governors of Taraba, Garba Umar, and Benue, Steven Lawani, represented
their states at the parley, which came less than 24 hours after the group
inaugurated its secretariat in Maitama, Abuja.
The
source told Saturday PUNCH that the President and the governors discussed ways
of preventing Amaechi from taking control of the forum.
The
source said they also discussed the strengthening of the PDP “in the face of
recent challenges.”
Saturday
PUNCH also
learnt that the meeting considered security challenges in the country, the
state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and further steps to be
taken to wipe out the extremist Boko Haram sect.
They
also discussed the possibility of convening a National Executive Committee
meeting of the PDP in the shortest possible time.
However,
the pro-Jang group was mandated to break the ranks of the pro-Amaechi group and
woo them to the side of “the President’s men,” the source added.
They
also discussed strategies for ‘capturing’ Anambra and Ekiti states in the
governorship elections scheduled for 2014 in both states.
They
agreed that efforts would be made to settle any crisis in both states to ensure
a smooth sail for the PDP during the elections.
Jang
told State House correspondents after the meeting that he led the team of
governors in his capacity as their chairman to congratulate the President on
his mid-term achievements and to consult with him on national issues.
He
said, “We have met with Mr. President with me leading a team of governors from
the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to congratulate Mr. President and to consult with
him on very serious national issues.
“You
know the security problem in the country and what we need to do in the coming
two years to ensure that democracy stabilises and development continues in the
country.
“Well,
let me tell you there is no factionalisation in the NGF. The NGF is one and I
am the chairman of the NGF.”
When
the governors discovered that journalists were bent on asking more probing
questions, they quickly led Jang away.
After
emerging from Jonathan’s office, the governors stopped at two different spots
between the President’s office and the entrance to the briefing room where
journalists were waiting for them.
On both
instances, the governors conferred for about five minutes each.
They
insisted that the short interview would hold while they were standing because
some of them were in a hurry to go for Juma’at prayers.
PDP
leaders had warned Amaechi against seeking a second term as the NGF chairman, a
directive the governor ignored.
In a
swift reaction to his victory, PDP suspended Amaechi for alleged disobedience
to the Rivers State chapter’s order for him to reinstate the chairman of Obio
Akpor Local Government in the state, Mr. Timothy Nsirim.
The
President’s meeting with members of the Jang faction might have confirmed that
he has more than a passing interest in the group.
Meanwhile,
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday said Amaechi was validly
elected as the NGF chairman.
In a
statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, Prince Kassim
Afegbua, Oshiomhole said it was surprising that governors who participated in
the election turned around to deny the result.
He also
said it was shocking that “governors who claim to be duly elected
representatives of their States could lower the bar of credibility and
integrity just for the sake of dubious politics.” He debunked a media report
(not PUNCH) that Amaechi’s travails began when he donated N500m to Oshiomhole’s
re-election campaign, noting that the allegation was “spurious, very ridiculous
and roguish.”
The
statement titled ‘Governor Amaechi did not donate to Oshiomhole campaign,’ said
it was not true that the Rivers State governor spent two nights in Benin
before, during and after the campaign.
The
statement said there was nothing wrong with Amaechi attending Oshiomhole’s
inauguration in his capacity as the NGF chairman.
“We
find it utterly misleading for anyone to deliberately raise unverifiable claims
just to give the Rivers State Governor a bad name and portray the Edo State governor
in bad light with respect to campaign funds and management of same. The
relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 (as amended) frown on such bogus
donations by either an individual or corporate body for the campaign of any
individual candidate running for election.
“The
beauty of democracy and credible elections is the exhibition of the spirit of
sportsmanship by the loser and his party, and not this invidious show of
hostility by the opposition PDP. When the Comrade Governor earlier referred to
the PDP as a party of rogues, the party went for his jugular by calling him
unprintable names and churning out all manners of lies and concocted tales just
to make an impression. “With the recent outcome of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum
election which returned Governor Amaechi as duly elected, and following the
U-turn of those who participated in the exercise, the Comrade governor’s
roguish description of the PDP has become instructively appropriate.
“It is
better for the PDP to look for other reasons why it has wrongly taken certain
actions against one of its own, than looking for convenient ways to give a dog
a bad name in order to hang it. It is shameful that governors who claim to be
duly elected representatives of their States could lower the bar of credibility
and integrity just for the sake of dubious politics.”
Attempts
to obtain comments from the Action Congress of Nigeria and Congress for
Progressive Change on Friday failed as their spokesmen did not respond to calls
and text messages to their phones.
Source: Punch
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