THE
Nigerian Governors’ Forum, against all expectations, suddenly postponed
its election on Monday, saying the incumbent chairman of the Forum,
Governor Rotimi Amaechi, should be allowed to finish his tenure in May
before a successor is elected.
But beyond the official reason, however, The PUNCH
learnt that the postponement was the outcome of intense Presidency
manoeuvring vis-a-vis President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 ambition.
Sources said supporters of Jonathan
pushed for the postponement when they received signals that the
President’s candidate for the NGF chairmanship, Katsina State Governor
Ibrahim Shema, was heading for a defeat against Amaechi.
“When it was clear that Amaechi would
have easily won re-election, they (Jonathan’s loyalists in the NGF)
quickly called for the postponement of the election, saying that the
current leadership should be allowed to finish its tenure in the spirit
of democracy,” a governor-participant at the NGF meeting in Abuja on
Monday told one of our correspondents.
The denial by the Presidency on Sunday,
notwithstanding, the NGF under Amaechi was said to have constituted a
burden to Jonathan who is said to be doubtful of the Rivers State
governor’s loyalty.
“President Goodluck Jonathan does not
have anything to do with who is or who becomes the chairman of the
Nigerian Governors’ Forum. The group is not a constitutional organ,
though members have constitutional rights of freedom of association,”
Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, had said
in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on
Sunday.
On the eve of the stalemated governors’
poll, the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum was born during a
meeting presided over by Jonathan in Aso Rock.
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill
Akpabio, a known loyalist of Mr. President, is the chairman of the new
forum that has continued to excite the PDP leadership and Jonathan’s
men.
Feelers from the governors’ meeting
which held at the Sokoto State Lodge, Abuja, on Monday, indicated that
the Presidency persuaded one other governor from the north who was
interested in leading the NGF to step down for Shema.
Besides Shema, the Benue State Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswan, was said to have indicated interest in the NGF chairmanship.
A northern governor, who pleaded anonymity, said Shema was picked after the intervention of the Presidency.
He said, “The chairmanship of the NGF
and the PDP governors’ forum will play a big role in who emerges as the
president in 2015. The Presidency sees Shema as a moderate.
“Suswan, who is also close to the
President, was persuaded to step down. He may be compensated with the
Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum.”
Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu is
the incumbent chairman of the the Northern Governors’ Forum. Apart from
nursing a presidential ambition, it was Aliyu that recently challenged
Jonathan to respect an agreement he purportedly reached with governors
in 2011 to serve only one term as president.
It was gathered that the Presidency
pushed for the emergence of the Akwa Ibom State, Governor, Mr. Goodswill
Akapbio, as part of the move to stop Amaechi.
Amaechi, after the NGF poll was
postponed on Monday said, “Members reviewed the affairs of the forum in
the past 21 months detailing the activities, achievements and challenges
experienced during the period.
“After the exhaustive deliberation of
the issues of filling vacant positions, the forum resolved that
elections in this regard be postponed till May when the chairman initial
two tenures will expire.”
His deputy, Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, also said that the incumbent chairman of the NGF was entitled to another term.
A governor told one of our
correspondents that it would be an impossible task for Amaechi to retain
the post as the election of Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, also in the
South-South, is seen as a move to stop him.
But Obi, in an interview with one of our
correspondents faulted the argument that the emergence of the PDP
governors’ forum would affect the election of the chairman of the NGF.
He said, “The affairs of the PDP do not
concern the NGF. The PDP has the right to have its chairman. Even the
ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria) has its own forum. Even APGA has its
own forum of Governors.
“We are not bothered about the PDP forum. Of course, the Chairman of the forum (NGF) has the right to re-contest in May.”
Besides Shema and Suswan, two Southern
governors, Amaechi and the Abia Governor, Theodore Orji, were also said
to be interested in the NGF chairmanship.
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