The
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, who is also the Governor of
Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has summoned the meeting of the forum.
The notice of the meeting, which holds
in Abuja on Wednesday, was also sent to the factional Chairman of the
NGF, who is also the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Jonah Jang.
The agenda of the meeting, shows that
Amaechi will brief his colleagues on the letter the governors wrote to
President Goodluck Jonathan on the sharing of revenue accruing to the
states from the Federation Account.
At their last meeting, which was held in
Abuja on December 12, 2013, the governors said they were going to
confront President Jonathan on the alleged refusal of the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation to remit $49.8bn to the Federation
Account.
The governors based their decision on
the revelation made by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,
Mallam Lamido Sanusi, in a letter issued by him that the NNPC had
failed to remit the money, which was said to be the proceeds of crude
sales between January 2012 and July 2013.
The said amount was said to have
represented 76 per cent of the value of crude oil lifted during the
period, in which the NNPC was said to have remitted $15.5bn,
representing a paltry 24 per cent of the total value of $65.3bn.
It was also gathered that Wednesday
meeting would also deliberate on funding challenges at the state level,
how to move the NGF forward, adoption of the NGF Strategic Plan and
Action Plans for 2014
The notice of the meeting was signed by the NGF Director-General, Mr. Asisha Okauru.
Meanwhile, the political crisis in
Rivers State took another shape on Monday when the State Commissioner
for Housing, Mr. Marshal Uwom, announced the resignation of his
appointment.
Uwom, who spoke with newsmen shortly
after submitting his resignation letter at the Government House in Port
Harcourt, said he was not comfortable with the defection of Amaechi to
the All Progressives Congress.
He said, “Series of recent developments,
especially the decision of my boss, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi,
to dump the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress
informed my decision to leave the cabinet.”
PUNCH NG
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