Friday, May 31, 2013

UNBELIEVABLE, MOST UNBELIEVABLE : NGF Chair Crisis: "We’re Embarrassed" – Chief Tony Anenih

Chief Tony Anenih
Factional chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, and the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, have sung different tunes on the raging crisis in the group.
While Anenih described the emergence of two governors from the ruling party as separate chairmen of the NGF as an embarrassment to the PDP, Governor Jang declared that there was no faction in the forum and that he remained the only authentic chairman of the body.
At the NGF election last Friday, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State won with 19 of the 35 votes of the governors in attendance while Jang was selected by 16 governors. The pro-Jang governors stormed out of the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, venue of the election, after they were defeated. The splinter group later announced Jang as the “authentic chairman” of the NGF.
 At a dinner party organised by the PDP at the presidential villa late on Thursday night to mark the second year of President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure in office, Anenih lamented that the emergence of two chairmen of the NGF was “a big embarrassment to the PDP”.
But Jang who led 12 governors of his faction of the NGF to meet with President Jonathan at the presidential villa, Abuja, yesterday faulted the BoT chairman, saying: “Well, let me tell you; there is no factionalisation of the NGF. NGF is one and I am the chairman of the NGF.”
Asked by State House correspondents why they were at the president’s office, Jang said, “We have met with Mr President, with me leading a team of governors from the NGF to congratulate him and to consult with him on serious national issues.”
When he asked to be specific, Jang replied, “You know the security problem in the country and what we need to do in the coming two years to ensure that democracy stabilises and development continues in the country.”
Other governors who accompanied Jang to meet with President Jonathan were Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Olusegun Mimmiko (Ondo), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Theodore Orji (Abia), Peter Obi (Anambra), Ramallah Yero (Kaduna), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Idris Wada (Kogi), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and  the deputy governor of Benue State.
Anenih, while lamenting the embarrassment the emergence of the NGF chairmen had caused the PDP, said: “This issue must be urgently addressed. The supremacy of the party must be recognised and enforced. The leadership of the party will not tolerate a situation where it will preside over a divided house.
“If we expect the PDP house to withstand and overcome the storms and crisis being fuelled by the opposition, we must be united, focused, decisive, and dedicated to a common cause.
“Mr. National Chairman, Sir, we need a strong party. If the party is strong and there is discipline, and if those who worked hard and are loyal are rewarded in the party, our government will be stronger and will not be easily distracted. In the last few weeks, members of the BoT visited a number of PDP-controlled states in pursuit of reconciliation. There are four more states to visit.”
At the dinner, there were strong indications that President Jonathan might get automatic ticket for his second term bid in 2015 as Anenih proposed a direct second-term ticket for incumbent Nigerian leader and PDP governors.
This, he said, was “to avoid the hassles that go with the party primaries, especially for executive positions”.
Anenih admitted that some governors of the PDP had scores to settle with the party’s leadership, saying the internal problems of the PDP must be addressed urgently if Nigerians must take the party seriously.
The party also passed a vote of confidence on President Jonathan for 2015, as prominent members who spoke one after another, including representatives from the six geopolitical zones, maintained that the president should be given another chance to rule the country.
President Jonathan, at the dinner which lasted till the early hours of yesterday, said he was not bothered about the criticisms of his administration, saying they were expected from the opposition.
Jonathan said that if the opposition praised him, then, there must be something wrong, stressing that he had stopped making certain remarks relating to the allegations raised by his critics. He recognised Governor Jang as the duly elected chairman of the NGF.
In attendance at the dinner were the governors of Cross River, Akwa  Ibom, Bauchi, Delta, Ebonyi, Abia, Bayelsa, Kogi, Taraba, Enugu and the deputy governors of Niger and Benue states, Senate president David Mark, speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal, Anenih, PDP national chairman  Bamanga Tukur, and the party’s state chairmen.
Others were Don Etiebet, former Senate president Ken Nnamani, former PDP national chairman Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, women’s leader of the party Kema Chikwe, national publicity secretary of the party Chief Olise Metu, former governor of CBN Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Senator Bukola Saraki and chief Bode George.
Court stops Amaechi’s suspension from PDP
Meanwhile, a Rivers State high court headed by Justice Emmanuel Ogbuji has restrained the PDP from taking further actions against Governor Amaechi, pending the hearing of the substantive suit challenging his suspension from the party.
Justice Ogbuji issued the order following a preliminary application brought by Amaechi’s lawyers led by Akin Olunjimi (SAN).
While ordering the PDP to maintain the status quo, the court summoned the party to appear before it on June 6, 2013.
The judge directed Amaechi to serve the PDP the necessary court processes through pasting at its national headquarters in Abuja as well as publishing same in two national dailies.
On Monday, the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) suspended Amaechi from the party, citing the governor’s alleged refusal to recall the suspended elected officials of Obio-Akpor local government area as its reason for the action.

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