Present your 19 governors, presidential aide dares Amaechi

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, on Tuesday dared Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State to present the 19 governors he claimed re-elected him as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum.

In his reaction to an earlier interview Gulak granted The PUNCH in which he said the Presidency identified Governor Jonah Jang as the NGF chairman, Amaechi had on Monday said he was re-elected by 19 governors against the 16 who voted for Jang.

“It is a known fact that in the election for chairman of NGF held on May 24, Governor Amaechi got the mandate of the majority of his colleague-governors to continue to serve as their chairman when 19 governors voted for him as against 16 that voted for Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang. We know that 19 is always greater than 16,” Amaechi’s spokesman, David Iyofor, had written.

But Gulak insisted on Tuesday that Jang remained the chairman of the NGF recognised by the Presidency.

While faulting Amaechi’s claim that his re-election was accepted by majority of the governors, the presidential aide asked the governor to present the 19 governors who voted for him.

He said the poor attendance recorded during the retreat the Rivers State governor organised in Sokoto on Saturday was a clear sign of the non-acceptability of his leadership by his colleagues.

“If Governor Amaechi is claiming that 19 governors re-elected him as the chairman of the NGF, let him present the 19 governors. You are aware of the poor attendance at the retreat he organised in Sokoto. That was a sign that he is not the leader of the forum,” Gulak said.

On the statement that he was misleading the President, Gulak said, “If I am misleading the President, who is leading him (Amaechi)?”

He insisted that the seven aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party governors were being led by their personal ambitions and not national interest.

Gulak said the earlier they embraced peace and settled down to work for the citizens of their states who elected them, the better for them.

PUNCH