As Governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) get set to elect a new chairman, indications have emerged that governors of South South states are set to dump Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.
Amaechi is the current chairman of the forum and is reported to be interested in a second stint as chair of the Forum but his ambition is stoutly opposed by the Presidency which is pulling the strings to ensure its anointed candidate, Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State carries the day.
The election is slated for May 23.
According to insiders, the only Governor not in support of the plan to pull the rug off Amaechi’s feet is Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State.
To ensure its preferred candidate emerges chairman of the Forum, the Presidency has resorted to putting pressure on PDP governors, particularly in the South East and the South-South to support Shema.
A source privy to the plan revealed: “Anenih has visited Cross River about three times recently and may have succeeded in convincing Governor Liyel Imoke, who is the Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, to dump Amaechi.
“Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has also been cajoled to back Shema, but the Presidency’s foot soldiers have not bothered to lobby Oshiomhole because his position to vote for Amaechi has not changed. For Governors Godswill Akpabio and Seriake Dickson of Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa States, representing, their loyalty to the president is unquestionable.”
It would be recalled that governors of the South East and South South at a recent meeting in Asaba, Delta State, urged their colleagues and Nigerians to give the Jonathan administration the maximum support it required in the implementation of its transformation agenda.
Before the meeting ended, it was learnt that Anenih addressed the governors where he stressed the “implications of allowing the president to be humiliated if Amaechi is re-elected as NGF chair.”
No comments:
Post a Comment