The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described as a bad omen for the 2015 general elections the rejection of the result of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) by governors who are undoubtedly acting the script written for them by the presidency and the leadership of the PDP.

[b]In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the message that the presidency, through the puppet governors, is sending to the nation is that the outcome of the 2015 elections will only be valid if a certain candidate emerges the winner.

”If an election involving only 35 governors can generate so much controversy and threaten to overheat the polity, what will happen when millions of Nigerians vote in 2015? Is this how President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the Godfather of the losing governors, has been sanitizing the electoral process as he has been enthusing?

”The show of shame by the bad losers supporting Gov. Jonah Jang, of course at the behest of the presidency, is an extension of the threat that has been issued by some rabblerousers that it is either Jonathan for 2015 or there will be no Nigeria as we know it. This is the Gbagbo Option that plunged Cote d’Ivoire into a crisis in which it is yet to fully emerge. This is what the puppet governors are pushing for, hence they must be called to order urgently!

”Governors who participated willingly and fully in the NGF election have suddenly turned around and called the election a fraud after their candidate has lost. What were they thinking when they voted? Could it be that they were so sure that their arm-twisting tactics had worked and hence were sure of victory, only to be drubbed?

Did they deviate from the presidency’s script that they should only use the consensus they extracted from unwilling governors instead of an election to determine the NGF chairmanship?[/b]

”If they realized the ballot papers were not serialized, as the bad losers later claimed, why did they participate in the election?

Couldn’t they have raised an objection and refused to participate? Were they dragged to the venue of the polls screaming and kicking? If so where is the evidence that they were forced to act against their will?” it queried.

ACN condemned the meddlesomeness of the presidency in the election of what is not – in reality – more than a social club, and particularly criticized President Jonathan, as the leader of his party and of the country, for expending so much of the little goodwill he has on the NGF elections.

”Irrespective of the tepid denial by the presidency, Nigerians are aware that the arrowhead of the puppet governors, Gov. Godswill Akpabio, is acting at the behest of the presidency. What President Jonathan did by his meddlesomeness is to stake his presidency on the NGF elections, thereby making the elections a referendum on his leadership of his party and country. In both instances, he got the outcome he deserved: A leader who cannot hold his party together cannot hold a nation together.

”And here are some of the lessons that the presidency should learn, if it so wishes, from the outcome of the NGF elections – There is always a limit to hubris and the use of naked power against perceived opponents. Needless to say that latent power is more potent than naked power. A leader should never do things just because he can.

The presidency and the ruling party have lost control of themselves. They are bound to also lose control of the nation - democratically – in 2015. Make no mistake about it!” the party warned.

Meanwhile, the ACN has called for a probe of the apparently forged document being circulated by the losing governors to show they had harvested the signatures of 18 governors pushing for a consensus candidate just before the elections.

The party said the fact that the signature of a governor, who neither attended the meeting of the PDP chapter of the NGF nor send a representative, was included in the consensus list is an indication that the signatures were harvested long before the meeting and the day of the election. Of course, it is also clear that the dates on the typed document were cancelled and new dates handwritten.

”If the losing governors are insisting that the list is genuine and that the signatures were obtained at the NGF-PDP meeting shortly before the voting, then they owe Nigerians an explanation on how a man who did not attend the meeting or send a representative could have signed the document in question,” it said.

ACN advised Gov. Akpabio and his group to accept the result of the NGF elections instead of threatening to break the NGF – and overheat the polity – just to satisfy their masters, saying national interest should supersede parochial interest.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/ngf-election-rejection-of-results-bad-omen-for-2015-acn/

Good one

ndukwejoe: Good one

Absolutely. This is the time for all patriotic democrats in Nigeria to not only speak up but stand up to be counted on the side of democracy.

For the 1st tym I have to agree with Liar Mohammed

Those Governors no try at all, they should have accepted their fate and learn from it. To me, none of the persons made the chairman NGF so far has ever become the president or vice, so, what's the fuss.

And to Mr. Akpabio fraction, why border when there are many ways to kill a rat!

nigeria is experiencing akpabioism

As if anyone's vote will count in 2015.

If the governors who are to govern us are the ones behaving like aggressive street men who can't accept defeat, I think we Nigerians still have a long way to go. If the leadership is bad and full of semi-literates, nothing impressive should be expected from the citizens.
A country that can't conduct a credible election for just 35 voters(people of high caliber) . Smh

Amechi's told us he won by 19 votes to 16.The onus is now on him to prove it by convening a forum for the 19 governors in his camp.Any thing short of that would only vitiate his claim of victory.

chukwudi44: Amechi's told us he won by 19 votes to 16.The onus is now on him to prove it by convening a forum for the 19 governors in his camp.Any thing short of that would only vitiate his claim of victory.

Are you listening to yourself at all? Was amachi the one that declared himself winner and claimed 19 votes or the body that conducted the election? We shouldn't allow our support and love for something/someone prevent us from reasoning like our normal self(no insult meant).

I don't know why some cannot shun myopia and sectional bias for once to stand for what is right, just and desirable. Amaechi won the election because the bully GEJ was away at the AU conference. The Governors themselves are not that many in number not to be able to conduct an election limited to 36 voters. Amaechi was duly announced winner at the Venue with 19 votes to 16. It was reported that GEJ, upon hearing the result, was furious with Akpabio, Mimiko, Obi et al and laid into them to discredit the elections and cast doubt over its legitimacy.

After this, the treats and shameless bullying would have been in force enough to cajole some governors, against their will and after a transparent head count, to switch sides and create the furor to force a recount as GEJ wants. In the end they will do everything till Ameachi is removed. That is no longer democracy and the usual revisionist, always quick to blame others and declare themselves without fault after the sh1t hits the fan, not to forget their own blind support for the undemocratic behaviour of GEJ today that may provoke some unpleasant reactions. Jang even broke the rule as per notification period yet Amaechi and co raised no objection so as not to be seen as problematic and quarrelsome.

It is tantamount to a striker taking a penalty and missing it yet the referee keeps finding phantom infringement to have the penalty retaken. Of course the goal keeper will be beaten in the end !!!
We saw this only recently with the PDP BOT chairmanship election suddenly "deadlocked" when it had been announced that Ali had defeated GEJ's choice of Anenih. After the "deadlock" it was mass sacking till the next sitting when Anenih was adopted by "consensus". The clannish way some now queue behind GEJ and support everything he does is a disgrace to Nigeria.

Some folks are just shamelessly acting like a brainwashed herd motivated by the greater hatred of others preventing them from seeing let alone supporting what is best for Nigeria. No sensible person, with a well-calibrated sense of right and wrong, will support Akpabio in this case or put the onus of proof on Amaechi. We all know what will happen in a recount with GEJ breathing down everyone's neck. GEJ wants 2015 by hook or by crook and he will fail because he is absolutely despised by everyone, starting from his fellow politicians, as the personification of callousness, opportunism, disployalty and treachery .

*** yawns ***
'Cluesless', 'incompetent' GEJ hoodwinking grown men, elected as governors to act against the own will? Funnier yet is that same 'spineless' GEJ will bully folks like Obi, Akpabio, Jang simply because some online beer parlour media - Sa-Liar Reporter said so. These sort of bunkum are stuff soap operas are usually made of. Cock and bull stories.

In any case Jang has taken the bold step of calling the first NGF meeting, I hope my brother - Ameachi, will be bold enough to call for same if he is indeed elected, without shenanigan.

Battle for Nigeria Governors Forum? Much ado about nothing besides being a supremacy battle between PDP (led by the presidency, PDP leaders and most PDP governors) and Tinubu's APC (led by Tinubu, Buhari and co). This same NGF has had no impact whatsoever on the lives of the average Nigerian since its creation.

I just dey enjoy the drama sha

Sincere 9gerian: Battle for Nigeria Governors Forum? Much ado about nothing besides being a supremacy battle between PDP (led by the presidency, PDP leaders and most PDP governors) and Tinubu's APC (led by Tinubu, Buhari and co). This same NGF has had no impact whatsoever on the lives of the average Nigerian since its creation.

I just dey enjoy the drama sha

That makes any same man to wonder why your boss 'ebelechukwu' is so desperate about who leads the forum.

As you would note from the following excerpt, it is reported that the governors of Enugu and Ebonyi went for Amaechi.

video recording of Friday’s Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election exclusively obtained by Sunday Mirror has revealed what transpired during the poll.

The election which has led to a cleavage in the Forum with a faction being led by Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the pro-Jonathan camp led by the Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, shows clearly that all 35 governors at the meeting were in full agreement during the conduct of the poll, the counting of the results and the decision to announce the outcome of the election to the public.

;;;;;; ;;;;;;; ;;;;

The governors had pledged to support the presidency’s candidate and abide by the party’s decision but at the last minute changed their mind. They are: Governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Makatada Wamako (Sokoto), Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Martins Elechi (Ebonyi) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

Source: http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/ngf-election-video-shows-how-governors-voted/

Sincere 9gerian: Battle for Nigeria Governors Forum? Much ado about nothing besides being a supremacy battle between PDP (led by the presidency, PDP leaders and most PDP governors) and Tinubu's APC (led by Tinubu, Buhari and co). This same NGF has had no impact whatsoever on the lives of the average Nigerian since its creation.

I just dey enjoy the drama sha

I am in entire agreement with you.

But then, surely, one must ask why the Presidency is hell-bent on frustrating this inconsequential group. No?

comrade eguerrilla,
Your duplicity is becoming worrisome. In the other thread YOU posted a similar link with 18 governors in attendance, whence from this that has 17?

And like I said, whats keeping Ameachi from conducting his own inaugural meeting?

PointB: comrade eguerrilla,
Your duplicity is becoming worrisome. In the other thread YOU posted a similar link with 18 governors in attendance, whence from this that has 17?

And like I said, whats keeping Ameachi from conducting his own inaugural meeting?

Comrade, please point me to this link. To err is human, you know...

http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/ngf-election-video-shows-how-governors-voted/

When the counting of votes began, from the video recording, the expectation was that Jang would win because the ballots that were initially picked were all in his favour.

This made one of the governors present to jocularlycomment, ‘Jang in earl lead’. It eventually turned out that he had only 16 votes. After the counting of votes, the DG was heard clearly saying, “it’s obvious that Rotimi Amaechi had won and all the governors in attendance agreed and a decision was thereafter taken by all those present to go out and announce the result to waiting journalists. This was eventually done by Okauru.

The video further revealed how the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, went to challenge his colleague who was recording the proceeding with his telephone and who responded, “If you don’t want to appear, why don’t you turn your back to the camera”.

Sunday Mirror can also authoritatively reveal how Ondo State Governor, Dr. Segun Mimiko, on seeing how the election was going, said openly that he was stepping down as the deputy chairmanship candidate. The other governors, especially the pro- Amaechi camp were heard telling him it was unnecessary because if he didn’t step down, he would still lose. Which was what happened eventually.

These characters are just shameless.

eGuerrilla: As you would note from the following excerpt, it is reported that the governors of Enugu and Ebonyi went for Amaechi.


Source: http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/ngf-election-video-shows-how-governors-voted/

Is National Mirror a member of the Association of Witches and Witchcraft? Otherwise, how were they able to identify governors that changed their MIND "at the last minute"?

eGuerrilla:

Comrade, please point me to this link. To err is human, you know...

You may want to review the posts you made on the Jang Hold Inaugural NGF Meeting thread. If there was an error blame it on news sourec - Newxpress, I suppose.

Sincere 9gerian:
Is National Mirror a member of the Association of Witches and Witchcraft? Otherwise, how were they able to identify governors that changed their MIND "at the last minute"?

Fair question.
According to the report copied in below the document containing 19 signatures, which Governor Akpabio took to town after his side lost, was signed last Thursday.

NGF CHAIRMANSHIP ELECTION How Jonathan Shot Himself in the Foot



President Goodluck Jonathan’s design to install a chairman for Nigerian Governors’ Forum failed at the weekend because of suspected protest votes from angry governors who detested the president’s decision to switch his support from Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State to Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State without properly communicating the change to his supporters.

An insider in the whole affair told Sunday Trust that “for about two months, the President had told Governor Shema to stand against Governor Amaechi as chairman of the NGF. The Katsina State governor has been campaigning and preparing his mind to assume that position. However, about a week ago, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State called Yuguda and told him that Yuguda had become the president’s choice, and that he should prepare to stand for the election against Amaechi.”

[b]Our reporter learnt that at a meeting of northern governors at about 11.00am last Friday, Governor Shema was asked to step down for Yuguda, but he refused, claiming that if the president didn’t want him to stand for the election, Jonathan should have informed him personally, and not through another governor. Feeling very bitter, the Katsina State governor rejected all entreaties from northern governors for him to step down for Yuguda.

Sunday Trust learnt further that at about 3.00pm last Friday, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors met to finalise their plot ahead of the election, the governors were shocked at what happened. Governor Akpabio was said to have put his hand into his pocket and brought out a paper, claiming that President Jonathan had written the letter to him, saying neither Yuguda nor Shema was his candidate. According to Akpabio, the president, before he travelled to Addis Ababa for the African Union (AU) summit, had decided that Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State should be the person to stand against Amaechi at the election.[/b]

“Northern governors were confused and angry at the development,” the insider confided in Sunday Trust. “You know, it’s not all northern governors who would support Governor Jang’s candidature, and that was why, though 19 of the governors signed the document claiming to support Jonathan’s candidate, at the polls, about three of them reneged and may have voted for Governor Amaechi.”

The document, Sunday Trust learnt last night, was not signed at the weekend. “It was signed last Thursday at the Economic Council Meeting in order to give an assurance to President Jonathan that his own candidate would carry the day,” an insider told our reporter.

During the election, it was clear that most opposition governors, especially those of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), voted for Governor Amaechi. Also, from the list circulated by Governor Akpabio, it was apparent that northern governors like Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, though of the PDP, did not support the candidature of Jonah Jang and may not have voted for him.

This may not be unconnected with the cold war between some of these governors and President Jonathan over a purported agreement signed in 2010, in which Jonathan was said to have vowed not to seek re-election in 2015. At least, Governor Babangida Aliyu had severally claimed that there is a subsisting agreement on the issue and that Jonathan could not go against it.

Secondly, Governor Nyako may still have his grudges against The Presidency over the way the executive of the party loyal to him in Adamawa State was sacked and a team loyal to PDP’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has been put in its place.

With that singular action, Nyako has lost control of the party in his state. There are fears that this treatment could be meted out to several other PDP governors who oppose Jonathan’s ambition, ahead of the 2015 polls. Already, in Rivers State, the party’s executive loyal to Governor Amaechi has been removed. It has been replaced a team that supports Jonathan’s loyalist and Minister of State for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike.

Source

PointB:

You may want to review the posts you made on the Jang Hold Inaugural NGF Meeting thread. If there was an error blame it on news sourec - Newxpress, I suppose.

I recall the thread now...it was an evolving story and Newsexpress, which is a PDP-sponsored rag by the way, had erroneously confused an earlier decision taken at the PDP governors forum. That's my reading anyhow.