There were strong indications lastnight that there might be a showdown in the meeting of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) scheduled to hold today in Abuja. The meeting, which is a follow up to the one held last Thursday, is for the purpose of electing a new chairman for the body. The NGF has been in the eyes of the storm since last week when a plot to sack Rivers State Governor, RotimiAmaechi as chairman of the forum was botched.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that governors loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan had perfected a plan to replace Amaechi of Rivers State with a South South governor, who is said to be more favourably disposed to a second term for the president. On the other hand, those who back Amaechi are pissed off that the presidency is bent on choosing their leader for them, as though the governors are not discerning enough to know what they want.
It was gathered at press time thatthe president was scheduled to meet with the Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) governors later last night. The meeting, many believed, was not unconnected to the tussle over who emerged the new chairman of the NGF. Informed sources said the anti-Amaechi governors were working round the clock to ensure that he was not reelected as chairman of the NGF in today’s meeting.
On the other hand, the camp of the Rivers State governor, who is said to have the confirmed support of no fewer than 20 of his colleagues was leaving no stone unturned to ensure that he retained the seat. Daily Sun gathered that two options had been mapped out by the pro-Amaechi group ahead of today’s crucial meeting. The first option is to get the governors to pass a vote of confidence on the leadership of the Rivers State governor and, therefore, rule out the possibility of holding any election. On the reverse side of the coin is for Amaechi to step down voluntarily if it becomes clear that the pro-Jonathan groupis going to have its way.
Then the current NGF chairman would say that after piloting the affairs of the forum for so long, he felt it was time to give another person the opportunity to run theNGF. He would then refuse to stand any re-election. As at press time last night, the contacts and consultations were still going on as regards the possibilities – including shifting the emergence of a new leadership to another date. The move to remove the Rivers State governor as chairmanof the NGF is linked to his speculated vice presidential ambition.
Though he has repeatedly denied or at least failed to confirm harbouring any presidential ambition, the NGF chairman has continually been linked with the equally speculated 2015 presidential project of Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido.The calculation, therefore, is that allowing Amaechi to continue as the leader of the Governors Forum will be counter productive to President Jonathan’s rumouredsecond term ambition.
The reason for this is understandable. The NGF, an association of the governors of the 36 states in the country is known to wield enormous powers in the country, especially in the PDP where majority of thembelong to the consternation of critical stakeholders in the country. Consequently, it is believed that whoever controled the NGF would have the upper hand in who emerged the presidential candidate of the PDP.
Meanwhile, President Jonathan was said to have held a closed door meeting with Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at House 7 of the Presidential Villa last night. Newsmen who had hitherto gathered to note the attendance of the meeting were urged to leave, just as some of the governors were arriving the venue. It was a private gathering. Other notable personalities that were seen arriving at the venue of the meeting were ministers.
They include Minister of Petroleum Resource, Diezani Alison-Madueke and her counterpart in the ministry of Aviation, Stella Oduah, who were seen walking to the venue on footwhile their official vehicles followed them behind. Although details of the meeting were not known as at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the issue of who succeeds Governor Amaechi as chairman of the NGF was top on the agenda.
A presidential source hinted that President Jonathan summoned the meeting to mediate in the crisis rocking the NGF and resolve the matter amicable. “The president wants to mediate as a father in this unsettling affair. It isnot about him taking sides. It is about putting the PDP house in order,” the source said. Some governors, particularly those who are close to Jonathan, were said to be against Amaechi over his style of leadership of the forum, which they allegedly described as antagonistic to President Jonathan.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/govs-set-for-final-showdown-as-jonathans-men-take-battle-to-amaechi-at-ngf/

Greed won't let these people do anything right, I pray they implode soon as apc waxes stronger.