THE Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Thursday, chided the Nigerian
Governors Forum (NGF), saying that it has become a stooge to the former
president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, “who is always visiting any of the
governor that speaks ill of President Goodluck Jonathan.”
This is just as he said the governors are undemocratic and worse than
the military in the way and manner they were running the affairs of the
forum and opposing the government of President Jonathan.
Chief Clark, who was addressing a press conference in Abuja, added
that the governors had hijacked the local government structure in their
various states and also taken over the funds meant for its running.
Clark said the governors’ forum was trying to enforce its authority
over the president, adding that it was not happy with the national
chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, “because he is not from
their ranks.”
He also added that the plan of the forum was to upturn the leadership
of Tukur and install someone from their rank as the national chairman
of the party.
According to him, “the Governors’ Forum is now acting as an
opposition party to the Federal Government. It deliberately breaches
with impunity the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and
that of the PDP without any challenges.
“The forum has now become a threat to the peace and stability of
Nigeria. Most of the governors today are more dictatorial than the then
military governors.
“I have seen and made enquiries about counterparts in the United
States of America (USA). A governors’ association called the National
Governors Association (NGA) does exist, but their existence and
operations are practised and operated within the confines of the law of
the land.
“I do believe that when the Nigerian Governors Forum was first formed
in this country, under the chairmanship of the then governor of Enugu
State, Dr Chimarome Nnamani and later passed on to ex-Governor Victor
Attah of Akwa Ibom State and Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State respectively,
the forum behaved like their counterparts in the USA.
“Even in the 2003 presidential elections, the former vice-president,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, did not use the forum to challenge his boss.
Rather, he passed through Chief James Ibori, the then governor of Delta
State and 16 others.
“During this period, Nigerians hardly took notice of their existence.
However, a change came when Dr. Bukola Saraki used the forum as a
platform to achieve his presidential ambition.
“The ugly truth is that today, the PDP is no longer in control of its
various organs and for some time now, proper elections at congress and
conventions have not been held democratically due to the imposition of
unqualified members on the good members of the party, contravening
Section 87(4) of the Amendment Electoral Act 2011 and the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) Law.”
Chief Clark said the controversy in Adamawa State was being fueled by
the Governors Forum, by declaring its support for Governor Murtala
Nyako, alleging that the controversy in the state was as a result of the
selfish interest of Tukur, Nyako and Abubakar, who wanted their sons to
become the next governor of the state.
He also lambasted governors in the country, saying that most of them
had failed to conduct local government elections in their states.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Operating licences of 236 out of about 730 bureaux de change operating in Nigeria have been withdrawn by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CB...
-
By Juliana Francis One thing became crystal clear at the passing out parade and commissioning of 385 members of the Cadet Officers bas...
-
Seyi Gesinde reports the tragic death of Dr Myles Munroe, which occured aboard a plane which crashed while trying to land in The Baha...
No comments:
Post a Comment