Amaechi spoke when he visited the headquarters of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum located at Asokoro, Abuja, on Tuesday, said there was no need for him to step down after the conclusion of the election. He was accompanied by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State.
While reacting to a question on whether he and his opponent in the election, Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, were ready to step down for a consensus candidate in order to bring peace to the troubled Forum.
He said he would stick to the mandate that was freely given to him.
He said, “That is the mandate that was freely given and I will stick to that mandate. I think that it is up to Nigerians to know that nothing pays more than democracy.
“The right to choose who you want to choose and the governors having made their choice, we can only do one thing but stand by the choice the governors have made.
“We should ensure that we don’t allow what is happening now to affect the stance of Nigerians in the course of the 2015 democracy. We are mature enough to manage our own democracy and our own election process.”
On why there was no consensus, he said the election was conducted because of the governors’ inability to reach a consensus unlike before when he said some governors would agree to step down.
He said, “Basically, you know that when individuals are not able to reach a consensus the best form of choosing a leader is by election.
“All times we always had consensus because the other partner will say I am not going to run.
“In this case none of us agreed to step down for each other and the only way to go about it was to vote and we voted and one person emerged.
“I want to urge governor Jang because he said he is a Christian to know that God watches over everybody and whatever you say say it according to God because beyond NGF, you and I know that there is heaven and you can’t go to heaven if you don’t tell the truth and stand by the truth. I am not saying he is not saying the truth, I am not saying he is not standing by the truth.
“I am just saying that nobody can go to heaven when he is not saying the truth.”
He appealed to members of the staff of NGF to remain focused, and assured them that their salaries would be paid.
Meanwhile, Fayemi on Tuesday explained the reason behind his surreptitious recording of the NGF election.
He said, “The video is the only proof that there was an election. The video was a proof to the world that the election took place. Amaechi did not plant any video anywhere as being speculated in some quarters. The video was an amateurish way of proofing that there was an election.
“We are appealing to our colleagues to allow good reason to prevail and return to the only NGF that is known to law.”
On why the Amaechi group had refused to call any meeting after the May 24 election, Fayemi said, “We are not rushing to call a meeting because we want to bring everybody together. As soon as that is done, we will call for a meeting,” he explained.
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