Hottestgistnaija.com
As governors of Nigeria’s 36 states converge today to elect a new chairman for their umbrella body, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, there are deep-seated doubts that a free and fair election might not hold after all.
Some governors and stakeholders loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan are reportedly calling for a consensus candidate rather than an election. This move, especially, is geared towards truncating the ambition of the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who is seeking a second term as chairman but has been involved in a well-publicised face-off with the President over his rumoured presidential ambition.
However, the pro-Rotimi Amaechi governors insist that the constitution of the forum must be upheld, not circumvented at the president’s whim.
The entry, yesterday, of Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, into the race has further fuelled indications that President Jonathan is indeed on an all-out war against Amaechi. Prior to his formal declaration, there had been widespread insinuations that Jonathan had wanted to use Yuguda to check Amaechi but for the former’s prevarication. This prompted Katsina State governor, Ibrahim Shema, to join the fray. Now that
Yuguda has joined the race, a source close to the NGF said, “Governor Shema will be pressured to drop his ambition and queue behind Yuguda. In fact, what we are hearing is that at the end of the day, there might not even be an election.”
