Nigeria Governors’ Forum Crises Ends, Zamfara’s Yari is new Chairman

The Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, has emerged as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF. Yari emerged at the end of the meeting of the Forum held at the Lagos/Osun Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.The outgoing chairman of the body and Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, read the communiqué of the meeting to journalists.This is the first time a unified NGF, comprised of the Amaechi faction, and the Governor of Plateau state, Jonah Jang faction, would meet since May 2013.The NGF went into crisis in May 2013 after the election of officials split the body into two.At the election, which held at the Rivers State Governors lodge in Abuja, Amaechi defeated his Plateau State counterpart, Jonah Jang, with 19 votes to 16.After the election, Jang refused to accept defeat and formed a parallel NGF with his colleagues who had voted for him, a move that rubbed off heavily on the Presidency.Amaechi explained that Yari, who served as his deputy in his stint as NGF chair, emerged chairman by consensus and would serve for a period of one year.A new Deputy chairman was not elected at the meeting to replace him.The Rivers Governor told journalists that after over a year of bickering, the Governors had now “reconciled and are united as a single umbrella association of the 36 State Governors of Nigeria.”In his characteristic manner, Amaechi used the opportunity to throw shade at the Jonathan administration, saying that in lieu of the fact that funds in the Excess Crude Account were last disbursed in May 2013, “there is the need for the Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister for the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to provide explanation for accruals to this account from June 2013 to April 2015 which is estimated at over N20billion.”He added that an induction programme for new and returning Governors would be held in June 2015, and was aimed at equipping them with knowledge of global best practices of establishing and running their offices.In addition, Amaechi said the Forum resolved at the meeting to set up a Governors’ Forum Academy to be called “The NGF Leadership Academy” which will be responsible for capacity building of Governors and other officials holding public office.He said the academy would be overseen by the NGF secretariat.The Monday meeting was attended by about 20 governors and some deputies.Monday’s meeting is the first time the State Chief Executives came together as a united body.It should be noted that the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, circulated a statement demanding the postponement of the election, but was ignored, with the Niger state Governor, Babangida Aliyu, saying earlier on Monday that all governors had agreed to bury their differences, come together as a united body and move on.In a related development, the Governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima has been elected chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum [NSGF], an umbrella body of all elected governors from the Northern part of Nigeria.Shettima was elected at the meeting of the NSGF which held Monday at the Niger State Governors Lodge in Abuja.The current Deputy Governor of Kano state and the Governor-elect of the State, Abdullahi Ganduje, was elected deputy chairman.The new leaders of the body will be inaugurated at its next meeting either in the month of June or July, and all former Governors of Northern extraction are expected to be in attendance.