NGF CRISIS: OBASANJO PEACE MOVE CRUMBLES

THE efforts of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to douse the tension among the governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party have failed.
Obasanjo met with the governors on Tuesday night at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to intervene in the crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
A major decision at the meeting was to persuade both Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; and his Plateau counterpart, Jonah Jang, to step down for a neutral person as Chairman of the NGF.
But The PUNCH learnt on Wednesday that the two governors had refused to step down.
Amaechi and Jang are both claiming the chairmanship of the forum since its controversial election three months ago. The NGF has since split into two with Amaechi and Jang controlling different factions.

JANG, AMAECHI CLASH AGAIN •PLATEAU GOV INVITES GOVS TO MEETING TODAY •HE IS AN IMPOSTOR –RIVERS STATE GOVERNOR •JANG FACTION MAY MEET OBASANJO TOMORROW

The crisis within the Nigeria Governors’ Forum appears not to be over despite recent moves by the governors to find a way out.

On Saturday, the  Chairman of the forum, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, asked his colleagues to shun a meeting called by a factional chairman of the forum, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State. Amaechi also described Jang in unflattering terms.

Jang, in a letter sent to governors on Friday, had invited them for a meeting holding in Abuja later today.

Amaechi won the forum’s May 24, 2013 chairmanship election with 19 votes as against Jang’s 16, but the Plateau governor insisted he won the election.

The Rivers governor, in a message to one of our correspondents on Saturday, said it was wrong for Jang to continue calling for meetings when it was apparent that he did not win the forum’s chairmanship election.

JANG’S NGF MEETS TOMORROW, INVITES AMAECHI

GOVERNOR Jonah Jang of Plateau State led Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, will meet tomorrow, Sunday with Constitution review topping the agenda, just as Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi was invited for the meeting.

Also invited to the Jang faction of NGF Sunday meeting according to our source are Governors Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Aliyu Babangida of Niger State, Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and other state governors.

SIX PDP GOVS ATTEND AMAECHI’S NGF MEETING

The faction of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum under the leadership of Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi met yesterday in Abuja, with 15 governors in attendance. Yesterday’s meeting was the first to be convened by Amaechi since his re-election as chairman of the Forum of 36 states governors in a controversial election.
Speculation was rife yesterday that the meeting was postponed in deference to President Goodluck Jonathan who had also fixed a dinner with the 36 governors for yesterday night. Daily Sun checks however revealed that some of the governors in the Amaechi camp insisted that the meeting must hold in order not to give impression to the Jonah Jang led faction of the Forum that the Amaechi group has no followers.

NGF MAY SHIFT MEETING FOR JONATHAN’S DINNER

The Nigeria Governors Forum headed by Governor Rotimi Amaechi may have  postponed its  post-election meeting in deference to the office of the President.

The planned shift is reportedly meant to demonstrate that the NGF headed by the Rivers State governor has no personal problem with President Goodluk Jonathan.

The NGF meeting, scheduled for 8pm tonight, had clashed with a presidential dinner fixed by the President for the same time.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The NGF members are of the opinion that the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be respected . We have decided to defer to this office and postpone our meeting tonight.

I’M NOT AN IMPERSONATOR, JANG REPLIES AMAECHI •NGF FACTION MEETS IN ABUJA, 16 GOVS IN ATTENDANCE

PLATEAU State governor, Jonah Jang, has replied the Rivers State governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, saying that he is not an impersonator as alleged.

This is just as 16 governors showed up at the meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) summoned by the factional leader, Governor Jang, on Monday.

The number reflected the outcome of the May 23 meeting, where Governor Amaechi was re-elected chairman of the forum by 19 votes to 16, before the Jang-led faction proclaimed him chairman.

NGF CRISIS: STOP IMPERSONATING ME, AMAECHI WARNS JANG

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi on Sunday warned his Plateau State counterpart, Mr. Jonah Jang, against  impersonating him as the chairman of  the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

Amaechi was reacting to media reports on Saturday that Jang had invited the NGF members to a meeting scheduled for Monday (today) in Abuja.

Jang, who lost out to the Rivers State Governor during the May 24 governors election,   had in a statement said that the NGF forum meeting would hold at 6pm.

In the statement in which he addressed himself as the NGF chairman, Jang stated that after their meeting, the governors would meet with President Goodluck Jonathan at 9pm in the Presidential Villa.

GOVERNORS SHIFT BATTLE TO COURT

The fight for the control of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum between Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and Plateau Governor, Jonah Jang, took a different turn on Friday as pro-Ameachi governors, represented by Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, went to court to stop Jang from parading himself as the chairman of the NGF.

Fashola, who filed the suit at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in his capacity as a member of the forum, asked the court to declare that Jang is not competent to be called the elected chairman of the NGF.

JONATHAN ENDORSES GOV JANG’S FACTION

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.

MIMIKO, NWAYANWU FAULT VIDEO CLIPS ON NGF ELECTION

Ondo State Governor, who is also a factional Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, and the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwayanwu, on Wednesday faulted video clips allegedly recorded during the NGF election held last Friday in Abuja.

The duo spoke at the democracy lecture delivered by the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, in Akure.

Mimiko, who described the release of the 10-minute video clips as the height of propaganda by the pro-Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s camp, challenged the originators to release the three-hour recording of the entire process.

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.

NGF ELECTION: A FORETASTE OF THINGS TO COME?

Just when it was thought that Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, had won his re-election as chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), the story changed. In its inimitable fashion, a faction of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party sympathetic to President Goodluck Jonathan, reached for its bag of tricks and purloined a document meant to reverse Amaechi’s victory.

According to the truly magical paper shared among journalists by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State was the “real winner,” while Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo was the “deputy.”

NGF ELECTION: GOVERNORS JUBILATE AS AMAECHI EMERGES WINNER

Months of intrigues and political permutations among the 36 state governors ended on Friday with the election of Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for a second term.

The election, which was held at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, in Abuja was witnessed by 35 out of the 36 state governors.

Only the governor of Yobe, Ibrahim Geidam, was not at the venue of the election and was not represented.

Amaechi defeated his only rival, Mr. Jonah Jang, who is the governor of Plateau State.

While Amaechi got 19 votes, Jang had 16.

Also elected as the deputy chairman of the forum was the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulazees Yari, who was unopposed.

PDP GOVS FORUM: AMAECHI, AKPABIO IN CRUCIAL TALKS •SARAKI INTERVENES

Rivers State Governor, Chief Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and his Akwa-Ibom state counterpart, Chief Godswill Akpabio were reportedly in a closed door meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, ostensibly to lay the foundation for the meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum(PDPGF) which commenced in Abuja Wednesday evening.
Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, surprisingly showed up in Wednesday’s meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party Governor’ Forum (PDPGF), opening a new chapter in the frosty relationship between him and the PDPGF which was thought to be set up to minimise his influence as NGF’s chairman.
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State who has been critical of the formation of the PDPGF also made an appearance at the meeting hosted by the its Chairman, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State in his Lodge in Abuja.

INTRIGUES AS 36 GOVERNORS MEET IN ABUJA TODAY

The 36 Governors, under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) would meet today in Abuja to discussed issues that border on what they termed the illegal deductions by the presidency from the excess crude account.

Other issues include the state of security in the country for which a panel was raised as well as the surge in polio scourge.

But, while the intrigues over the chairmanship position of the forum involving the current chairman and Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the presidency persisted, LEADERSHIP gathered that the election was not slated for tomorrow.

NGF: PRESIDENCY IN FRESH MOVE TO SACK AMAECHI

The Presidency has initiated a  fresh move to ensure that Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi  does not retain his post as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.

It was gathered that ahead of the fifth  meeting of the  NGF slated for Wednesday,  15 state governors met with President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday night in Abuja.

Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State-led the delegation which had  Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State as the only non-PDP governor in attendance.

AKPABIO’S LARGESSE UPSETS PDP MEETING •AMAECHI, UDUAGHAN LEAVE MIDWAY

EFFORTS at mending the fractures in the workings of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-South region fell short Sunday as dignitaries left the special zonal meeting before it was over.

Governors Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Rivers, Delta states respectively, along with several other senior political office holders on the platform of the PDP left the Alfred Diette-Spiff Civic Centre, venue of the PDP 2013 South-South Special Zonal Executive Committee Meeting while the Akwa Ibom state governor, Godswill Akpabio, was making his speech.

The crux of the disturbance, it was learnt, had to do with Governor Uduaghan’s speech and Governor Akpabio’s reaction to it.

PDP CRISIS: AMAECHI, ALIYU, OTHERS SHUN GOVS’ MEETING

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, who is also the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, was among six governors that were not at the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum meeting, which was held in Abuja on Monday night.

Also absent were governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Dr. Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Seidu Dakingari (Kebbi); Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto); Musa Kwakwanso(Kano) and Sulivan Chime).

Eight other governors, who were not at the meeting, sent their deputies unlike the six absentee governors.

Seven governors and an acting governor(Taraba State), were also in attendance.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, was also at the meeting.

STATES IN FRESH TROUBLE OVER DOMESTIC DEBTS

• CBN raises lending stakes

DO you desire to be a state governor in the next round of elections in the country? You had better stop, check and cross-check, because you might just be courting a serious migraine or working up your blood pressure to a stroke level over the level of indebtedness to money-deposit banks; local contractors; pension and gratuity arrears; government-to-government liabilities; and indeed even over the ability to pay wages of workers.

To make matters worse for the states, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on January 31, 2013 warned money-deposit banks in the country against the continued lending of credit to states, local councils and their agencies because of the risk implication. Specifically, the apex bank raised the risk rating from 100 per cent to 200 per cent.

NGF CHAIRMANSHIP: NORTHERN PDP GOVERNORS DUMP AMAECHI, SHEMA

•Seek consensus candidate

Governors elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party from the northern states may have finally dumped the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, after several weeks of bickering over the headship of the forum when his tenure ends in May.

The northern states’ PDP governors also rejected the presidency’s choice for the NGF chairmanship, Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, in favour of a neutral candidate ahead of the election in May to choose a new chairman.