The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has said that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State could not have been responsible for the statement which described the forum as “beggars forum” and “toothless bulldog”.
Wike made the statement in a Monday statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim.
The governor spoke in respect of the travails of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, who was disqualified from seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Wike said the “Nigeria Governors Forum has become a toothless bulldog because it has lost focus on its role in defending the rule of law in the country.”
According to him, the forum used to be non-partisan and a powerful voice on national issues but the governors have turned to “beggars” since the APC took over the leadership of the body in 2015.
“Before 2015, the Governors Forum used to be very powerful as symbols of their respective states but APC killed it because they were protecting the interest of the ruling Party.
“During of one of the rerun elections in this state, my security aides were withdrawn thus exposing me to danger, the Forum did not say anything because the Chairman was a member of APC.
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“I told them then that what they were doing was wrong. Now they have become a Beggars Forum even when there are constitutional infractions.
“You can see that APC Governors say that they are progressive. You can see how progressive they are when they keep quiet when a fellow sitting governor is disqualified from contesting elections.
“Adams Oshiomole campaigned for Governor Obaseki four years ago. The same man has turned around to say that Obaseki has a defective certificate.
“Has Oshiomole apologised to Nigerians that he supported someone with a defective certificate? Who is saying that a sitting governor has a defective certificate? Is it a man that does not have a certificate?” Wike said.
But in a swift reply, the NGF blamed the commissioner for information for the comments attributed to Wike.
In a Monday counter-statement signed by its spokesman, Abdulrazaque Bakindo, the NGF said, “Governor Wike is an old member of the NGF and a strong one at that. He could not have referred to the NGF as a Beggars Forum. Blame it on the author of the release, Mr Nsirim the Information Commissioner in Rivers State who couldn’t distinguish between the NGF and the Progressive Governors Forum which is the political platform of APC Govs. The NGF has six core mandate areas and politics isn’t one of them.”
“The NGF is happy to state that Gov Wike is one of its strong members and has delegated his Deputy Gov to the Forum and she has never missed any meeting.
“The NGF appeals to all media advisers to seek to acquaint themselves with the different groups that their Chief Executives belong to in order to avoid making such misrepresentations that are entirely political and not governance-related.”
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