THE MANDATE : I’ll stick to my NGF mandate – Amaechi

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi

Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday vowed not to compromise on the second-term mandate given to him by a majority of 17 governors at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum election in Abuja on May 24.
The Peoples Democratic Party last week suspended Amaechi over alleged anti-party activities. But analysts are of the view that he was suspended by the PDP for refusing party directive not to recontest the NGF headship.
Amaechi, who spoke when he visited the headquarters of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum located at Asokoro, Abuja, on Tuesday, said there was no need for him to step down after the conclusion of the election. He was accompanied by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State.
Amaechi was reacting to a question on whether he and his opponent in the election, Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, were ready to step down for a consensus candidate in order to bring peace to the troubled Forum.
He said he would stick to the mandate that was freely given to him.
He said, “That is the mandate that was freely given and I will stick to that mandate.  I think that it is up to Nigerians to know that nothing pays more than democracy.
“The right to choose who you want to choose and the governors having made their choice, we can only do one thing but stand by the choice the governors have made.
“We should ensure that we don’t allow what is happening now to affect the stance of Nigerians in the course of the 2015 democracy. We are mature enough to manage our own democracy and our own election process.”
Currently, both Amaechi and Jang are laying claim to victory in the election with each having his supporters and loyalists among their colleagues.
The Jang faction of the NGF last week opened an office in Abuja and it already has the acceptance of President Goodluck Jonathan.
On why there was no consensus, he said the election was conducted because of the governors’ inability to reach a consensus unlike before when he said some governors would agree to step down.
He said, “Basically, you know that when individuals are not able to reach a consensus the best form of choosing a leader is by election.
“All times we always had consensus because the other partner will say I am not going to run.
“In this case none of us agreed to step down for each other and the only way to go about it was to vote and we voted and one person emerged.
“I want to urge governor Jang because he said he is a Christian to know that God watches over everybody and whatever you say say it according to God because beyond NGF, you and I know that there is heaven and you can’t go to heaven if you don’t tell the truth and stand by the truth. I am not saying he is not saying the truth, I am not saying he is not standing by the truth.
“I am just saying that nobody can go to heaven when he is not saying the truth.”
He appealed to members of the staff of NGF to remain focused, and assured them that their salaries would be paid.
Meanwhile, Fayemi on Tuesday explained the reason behind his surreptitious recording of the NGF election.
He said, “The video is the only proof that there was an election. The video was a proof to the world that the election took place. Amaechi did not plant any video anywhere as being speculated in some quarters. The video was an amateurish way of proofing that there was an election.
“We are appealing to our colleagues to allow good reason to prevail and return to the only NGF that is known to law.”
On why the Amaechi group had refused to call any meeting after the May 24 election, Fayemi said, “We are not rushing to call a meeting because we want to bring everybody together. As soon as that is done, we will call for a meeting,” he explained.
The Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, however said there was no need for the election of the NGF chairman.
Yuguda said it was the turn of the north to preside over the forum, adding that the disputed election ought not to have been held in the first place when the 19 northern governors had earlier decided on a consensus candidate.
The governor spoke with reporters in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said, “You can see that the need for election did not arise in the first place given the fact that we, the governors of the north, who are in the majority, had chosen a consensus candidate before the election.
“Why could the northern governors agree to go for voting when we knew we had the majority and had selected our chairman by consensus?”
Yuguda insisted that he would not be attending the meetings of the Northern States Governors’ Forum because of the activities of some of his colleagues during the NGF election.
He challenged the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, who is also the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum to speak to the nation on the agreement reached at the Forum’s meeting on the need to support the candidature of Jang before the NGF election.
The governor said, “My only request is for the Chief Servant of Niger State to address the nation on what was agreed by all of us at the meeting of the northern governors after which we proceeded to present our position to the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum on May 24.
“If he ( Aliyu) tells the world that we decided on presenting Governor Jang for adoption and not for election, then I will return to the Northern Governors Forum.
“But if that is not done, I will never be part of the forum for the remaining two years of my governorship. I cannot continue to be part of an association that takes a decision they cannot come out to defend.”