All is not well amongst the committee of Governors and this is centered around President Jonathan’s indirect signals that he will be running in 2015.
The pro-Jonathan forces had tried to remove Rotimi Amaechi from the Chairmanship role of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), however that did not occur as the required majority vote was not secured. The Forum decided to postpone the re-election till May.
Some pro-Amaechi supporters also expressed their disapproval with the decision of the PDP to set up its own Governor’s Forum under the leadership of Governor Godswill Akpabio.
A source said: “The two governors almost engaged in fisticuffs when Aliyu stood up to make his views known on the formation of PDP Governors Forum at the Presidential Villa on Sunday night.
“The Niger State Governor said there was no basis for forming the PDP Governors Forum. He told his colleagues that there was no problem running the NGF and if anybody has a contrary opinion, he can raise any issue for resolution at the forum. He described the PDP Governors Forum as a deliberate move by the Presidency to split the Nigeria Governors Forum and turn it into a tool to be used.
“Aliyu repeatedly said ‘by forming another forum within a forum, it means forces from outside are at work. He said he saw that a dictator was going to emerge in President Goodluck Jonathan.
Akpabio replied: “The PDP Forum was formed with the consent of party leaders in order to keep the party united.
“There is nothing wrong with it. After all, you are the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum. Is there anything wrong with that? Has Northern Forum divided the NGF?
“The President or the PDP is not using anybody.”
“The shouting match between the two governors was so serious that some governors started packing their files, preparatory to leaving the venue of the meeting because they did not want to be part of the mess.
“At that point, the two governors embraced each other. I think they raised their voices against each other as a carry-over of their irreconcilable positions on Jonathan’s second term ambition.
“While Akpabio is for Jonathan’s second term, Aliyu recently reminded the President to stick to the one-term pact he signed with PDP governors. So, a minor issue at the meeting led to the shouting march.”
Reading the communique at the end of the meeting, Amaechi said: “We, the governors of the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at our 3rd meeting of the year held on Monday 25th February, 2013, at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, deliberated on a number of issues and resolved as follows:
“Members reviewed the affairs of the Forum in the past 21 months, detailing activities, achievements and challenges experienced during the period.
“After exhaustive deliberation of the issues regarding filling vacant positions, the Forum resolved that election in this regard be postponed until May when the Chairman’s initial two-year tenure will expire.”
Akpabio said: “We thought that the election should be held in May so that by that time, the new leadership will start functioning immediately after they are selected, elected or by consensus they are brought into office.”
“This is almost a committee of equals. Anybody can be chairman or vice chairman. So, it is not a big deal for us.”
The source said: “It was apparent to the forces against Amaechi that they might not secure two-thirds majority or a simple majority to remove the Rivers State Governor.
“Prior to the commencement of the meeting, they were collecting signatories and they secured 16 out of 36, with only an opposition governor against Amaechi.
“They also came to the meeting with a joker to make Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema the new Chairman of the NGF. All their permutations failed like a pack of cards. The pro-Amaechi governors also had a Plan B to make Aliyu the next NGF leader, in case of worst scenario.
“In the midst of the commotion, Akpabio stood up to move a motion for the postponement of the election till May.
Akpabio was quoted as saying: “Why are we in hurry to conduct this election? After all, the tenure of the chairman of the Forum will end in May.
“The election has heated up the polity, as if we are fighting each other. Let us hold the election in May when this tension would have died down.”
The source added: “The proposal from Akpabio was seen as an olive branch from the forces against Amaechi and it was unanimously adopted that the election be postponed till May.”
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