7 Govs,6 Deputies Attended Jonah Jang's NGF Meeting

The factional meeting of the Nigeria Governors Forum led by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State was held in Abuja yesterday, with seven governors and six deputy Governors in attendance.

Knowing fully well the negative perception trailing the faction, members of the faction were of the opinion  at the end of their meeting yesterday that there was an urgent need to reconcile the two bodies.

According one of the arrow heads of the action,who spoke yesterday said  “We need to settle down and settle our differences. It is not portraying us in good light before Nigerians and the international community. We need to put a stop to the factionalisation of the forum,” one of the governors in the faction who attended the NGF meeting called by Jang, told our correspondent after the meeting in Abuja on Sunday.

Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio also told journalists before the end of the meeting that reconciliation was overdue. Akpabio said all the governors should be seen to be working together under one umbrella.

Akpabio, who is also the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Governors Forum, said, “We are going to reconcile. We need to work together as a team. We, all the governors, are going to reconcile and come together under one umbrella.

“We believe that all governors should come together so that we can positively impact on Nigerians.”

While he refused to answer further question as to whether Jang would step down for the Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the NGF chair, the Akwa Ibom State governor however added that the governors were desirous to embark on peer review.

The Jang faction member who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity said the faction members were desirous of peace in the forum because its continued factionalisation might injure the 2015 ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Jonathan had recognised the Jang faction of the NGF while the PDP had suspended Amaechi for “anti-party activities.”

The source confided in our correspondent that members of the faction would soon meet separately with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan to discuss how to reunite the governors.

The governor said opposition had been exploiting the cracks in the NGF and those cracks needed to be sealed to prevent further damage.

“If we don’t settle our scores now it may not help the cause of the President. The opposition are already exploiting the fight among the governors to gain some grounds; we need to resolve oour differences fast. We will meet with Obasabjo and thereafter meet with Mr. President to let him know that he will be the ultimate loser if the factionalisation in the NGF continues,” he said.

The NGF became factionalised during its last election in May when 19 members were said to have voted to give Amaechi a second term but the 16 governors who voted for Jang insisted on not recognising the Rivers State governor’s leadership.

The Amaechi supporters boycotted the NGF meeting called by the Plateau State governor on Sunday.

At the meeting which held at the faction’s headquarters located at the Maitama District of Abuja were Governors Martin Elechi ( Ebonyi); Jonah Jang (Plateau), Theodore Orji (Abia); Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa); Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo); Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); and Acting Governor of Taraba, Garuba Umar.

Also in attendance were the deputy governors of Gombe, Kaduna, Anambra, Cross River and Kogi states. They all represented their governors.

The meeting, in a communique, read by  Mimiko, reviewed the ongoing constitution amendment and constituted  a five-man committee to streamline the proposed amendment.

The  chairman of the committee is  Shema while other members of the committee  are  Orji,  Uduaghan, Dickson and Mimiko.

The governor of Ondo State, who read the communique, said  Suswam, who is the chairman of the Presidential Committee on the ASUU strike, briefed the governors on the ongoing strike.