Govs uphold Amaechi’s election as NGF chairman

The crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors Forum was
on Monday night resolved following the adoption of
Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as the
Chairman of the forum.
Amaechi had won the last NGF election with 19 votes
to defeat his main challenger, Plateau State governor,
Jonah Jang, who had 16 votes.The forum was thrown
into crisis when the 16 mainly Peoples Democratic
Party governors rejected the outcome of the election
and went on to form a faction of the NGF.It was learnt
that Monday’s meeting, which was brokered by some
of the outgoing governors, succeeded in getting the
two sides together to arrive at a truce.Signs that the
meeting would succeed showed up early, as Jang,
the factional chairman, was said to have sent an
apology over his inability to attend the meeting,
fueling speculations that he would not object to
decisions reached at the meeting.It was gathered that
a yet to be named governor moved that the forum
should agree that Amaechi won the 2013 election and
this move was unanimously adopted before the
meeting proper proceeded.
At this point, the governor of Bauchi State, Mallam
Isa Yuguda, excused himself from the meeting and
left.The NGF became polarised after 16 mainly
Peoples Democratic Party governors, under Jang’s
leadership, rejected the outcome of the NGF election
which Amaechi won with 19 votes.While President
Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP supported Jang,
Amaechi enjoyed the support of opposition state
governors as well as the court of public
opinion.Members of the two factions met formally for
the first time in Abuja on Monday after the crisis
which splitted the forum into two.The chairman of the
Northern Governors’ Forum, Babangida Aliyu, gave a
hint about what was likely to transpire during the
meeting.Aliyu, who spoke after a meeting of northern
governors, a few hours before the commencement of
the Nigeria Governors Forum meeting, said, northern
governors are determined to broker a truce between
the feuding factions in order to unite them for
Nigeria’s progress.Amaechi, who is the leader of the
NGF faction with 19 governors, attended the event in
company with Edo State governor, Adams
Oshiomole, the Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz
Yari and the governor of Osun State, Ra’uf
Aregbesola.Other members of his faction in
attendance were: Borno State governor, Kashim
Shettima, Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajumobi, the
Deputy governor of Kano State, now governor elect,
Umar Ganduje, while the governor of Nasarawa
State, Umaru Al-Makura was represented by his
deputy.Although the governor of Plateau State, Jonah
Jang, who is the leader of the 16 mostly PDP
governors sent an apology for his absence, though
prominent members of his faction were in
attendance.Leading the pack was the Akwa Ibom
State governor, Godswill Akpabio, who is also the
chairman of the PDP governors’ forum.Other
members of the Jang faction who attended the peace
meeting include: Bauchi State governor, Isa Yuguda,
his Delta State counterpart, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan,
the Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, the
governor of Kaduna State, Ramalan Yero, Kebbi State
governor, Usman Dakingari, Benue State Governor,
Gabriel Suswam and the deputy governor of Kogi
State.Those who were absent from the meeting
include: the governors of Ogun, Ondo, Taraba,
Plateau, Adamawa, Lagos, Gombe, Yobe, Bayelsa,
Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Katsina, Cross, River,
Imo, and Sokoto.