Fielding questions from State House correspondents after a private meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, he also asserted tthat he rival NGF chairman and Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang was too close to the President to be trusted to lead the governors’ body.
Also with the President was Governor Ibrahim Dankwabo of Gombe state but it was not clear whether he met with Jonathan jointly with his Adamawa counterpart.
Nyako posited that Jang would not be able to defend the interest of the governors if shouldered with the responsibility to lead the group as he was seen as a “yes man.”
According to him, there were criteria a person who should be chairman of the NGF must fulfill and these he said include the possession of necessary chemistry with the president and not necessarily his “yes man.”
He added: “the election in the governors forum has become an issue. It shouldn’t be an issue. When you say 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, even someone who is in elementary school knows which is higher.
“If one group got 19 votes and one got 16, in a democracy even in the eyes of the people in elementary school they know that 19 is higher than 16. It should not be turned into controversy. What could be related to that is that it could not be the figure. We could all agree that whoever got the highest figure won the election.
“We have already in the governors forum established certain criteria for leadership within us. He must be somebody we trust. I would like to have a leader of the forum who when he is with the president in the small room talking about Adamawa state can put in a word for Adamawa State. It should not be someone who will aggravate issues in the eyes of Mr President. That element of trust must be there. If I vote for somebody it must be somebody I could trust.
“We also said it should be somebody who has some degree of chemistry with the president that the president will be comfortable with. Now if we find that the president is not comfortable with him, can we do a little bit of psychological work to get the two of them to have the same chemistry?
“The other one we feel is that he should add some value to Mr. President. If you have a forum leader who is seen to be part of the president that has become a ‘yes man’ of Mr. President, then the governors will say he is not representing our interests.
“If he is not representing the interest of the governors, he is not representing the interests of the ordinary Nigerians. These are areas we have sorted out. Obviously, if the chemistry is still not right, we should discuss it and find a way of adjusting the tempo, the countenance, the language of the subordinate.”
On the suggestion from certain quarters that Jang and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivera State should step down to give peace a chance, Nyako said, “You are saying Jang should step down, step down for what? Did he win the election?”
He admitted that the issue of both factional chaimen of NGF stepping down was part of what was discussed in the Villa meetings chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo,
Nyako stated: “It was part of it, but you should understand the rationale. What we are saying here is that if he is going to step down because he is second winner, then that is their business and it is not the business of others or the winner to tell you to step down. He is number two, he got the second highest votes and that is the way forward. Step down for what? From number two to where? Number three or four?”
PDP Crises: Govs opt for ceasefire
The reconciliation meeting being spearheaded by President Olusegun Obasanjo continued in Abuja on Wednesday following the lack of final resolution on the critical issues.
Sources confirmed in Abuja on Wednesday that the meeting has however resolved that former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo would present the final resolutions to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Sources confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that a resolution was on sight as of Tuesday meeting but that the former president and the governors believed that all the issues raised so far should be firmly resolved.
It was learnt that besides the issue of the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the Rivers crisis and the division among the governors following the disputed election of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum(NGF), the governors also raised the issue of oil theft which they believed was becoming a threat to national purse.
A source close to the meeting said that the governors have all resolved to a ceasefire but that the issues at hand must be firmly resolved.
The source said that the governors were worried about the Rivers crisis, not because it was strange but because of the need to prevent the crisis from spreading to other states.
A source said on Wednesday: “The main issues at the meetings were the NGF crisis, the threat of impeachment of Governor Rotimi Amaechi and oil theft. The governors believed that with the growing oil theft, there is a huge threat to the allocations coming to the non-oil producing states especially and that if the problem persists, there would come a time when the states would not be able to pay salaries.
“The governors are worried that if the Rivers crisis is not resolved, it could get to a point where Amaechi would be removed and if that happens, it could become a template in other states. They are sufficiently worried that the crisis be resolved at this time.”
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