President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
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.
PUNCH
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