Govs uphold Amaechi’s election as NGF chairman

The crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors Forum was on
Monday night resolved following the adoption of Rivers State
Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as the Chairman of the forum.
Amaechi had won the last NGF election with 19 votes to
defeat his main challenger, Plateau State governor, Jonah
Jang, who had 16 votes.The forum was thrown into crisis
when the 16 mainly Peoples Democratic Party governors
rejected the outcome of the election and went on to form a
faction of the NGF.It was learnt that Monday’s meeting,
which was brokered by some of the outgoing governors,
succeeded in getting the two sides together to arrive at a
truce.Signs that the meeting would succeed showed up early,
as Jang, the factional chairman, was said to have sent an
apology over his inability to attend the meeting, fueling
speculations that he would not object to decisions reached at
the meeting.It was gathered that a yet to be named governor
moved that the forum should agree that Amaechi won the
2013 election and this move was unanimously adopted before
the meeting proper proceeded.
At this point, the governor of Bauchi State, Mallam Isa
Yuguda, excused himself from the meeting and left.The NGF
became polarised after 16 mainly Peoples Democratic Party
governors, under Jang’s leadership, rejected the outcome of
the NGF election which Amaechi won with 19 votes.While
President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP supported Jang,
Amaechi enjoyed the support of opposition state governors as
well as the court of public opinion.Members of the two
factions met formally for the first time in Abuja on Monday
after the crisis which splitted the forum into two.The
chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Babangida Aliyu,
gave a hint about what was likely to transpire during the
meeting.Aliyu, who spoke after a meeting of northern
governors, a few hours before the commencement of the
Nigeria Governors Forum meeting, said, northern governors
are determined to broker a truce between the feuding factions
in order to unite them for Nigeria’s progress.Amaechi, who is
the leader of the NGF faction with 19 governors, attended the
event in company with Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomole,
the Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari and the governor
of Osun State, Ra’uf Aregbesola.Other members of his faction
in attendance were: Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima,
Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajumobi, the Deputy governor of
Kano State, now governor elect, Umar Ganduje, while the
governor of Nasarawa State, Umaru Al-Makura was
represented by his deputy.Although the governor of Plateau
State, Jonah Jang, who is the leader of the 16 mostly PDP
governors sent an apology for his absence, though prominent
members of his faction were in attendance.Leading the pack
was the Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, who is
also the chairman of the PDP governors’ forum.Other
members of the Jang faction who attended the peace meeting
include: Bauchi State governor, Isa Yuguda, his Delta State
counterpart, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the Niger State
governor, Babangida Aliyu, the governor of Kaduna State,
Ramalan Yero, Kebbi State governor, Usman Dakingari, Benue
State Governor, Gabriel Suswam and the deputy governor of
Kogi State.Those who were absent from the meeting include:
the governors of Ogun, Ondo, Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa,
Lagos, Gombe, Yobe, Bayelsa, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Jigawa,
Katsina, Cross, River, Imo, and Sokoto.