The Presidency has initiated a fresh move to
ensure that Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi
does not retain his post as Chairman of the
Nigerian Governors' Forum.

It was gathered that ahead of the fifth meeting of the NGF slated for Wednesday, 15 state
governors met with President Goodluck Jonathan on
Sunday night in Abuja. Chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State-led the delegation which had Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State as the only non-PDP governor in attendance.

A source privy to the meeting confided in one of
our correspondents that the Forum which was
preceded by a special dinner was "essentially to
mobilise support for the emergence of Katsina
State Governor Ibrahim Shema as the next
chairman of the NGF."

He said, "We have been able to secure the
understanding of our governors especially our
brothers from the North. I believe for the sake
of balance, it makes a lot of sense to have a
northern PDP governor as chairman of the NGF
because we already have Governor Akpabio, a
Southerner as chairman of the PDP Governors'
Forum."

The source noted that members of the NGF in
opposition political parties were 10 out of the 36
governors in the country. He added that at least
two governors in the opposition parties were likely to throw their weight behind any candidate
supported by the PDP.

Our correspondents also gathered that as the NGF
meets in Abuja tomorrow, the issue of election has
again been deferred as it is currently not on the
agenda. Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, said that Presidency's interest was in upholding the rule of law.

According to him, the President as a loyal member
of the PDP, will be delighted to have another PDP
governor taking over from Amaechi as the NGF
chairman as his tenure draws to a close.
Gulak said the President was ready to work with any of the governors of the PDP that would eventually replace the Rivers State governor.
When asked whether Jonathan would be ready to
work with the embattled chairman of the NGF if
re-elected, the presidential aide said the issue of
re-election of Amaechi did not arise.

Gulak said, "The fact that the President met with
the PDP governors was an indication that he is
united with the governors. When has it become an
aberration for him to meet the governors?
"It is not about removing Amaechi. Amaechi's
tenure as NGF chairman is ending this April, so
nobody is talking about his removal. When Bukola
Saraki's tenure ended, he handed over to Amaechi.
Since Amaechi's tenure is ending too, he must hand
over to somebody else.

"The President is interested in any PDP governor,
not necessarily Shema, taking over from Amaechi at the expiration of his tenure. There is no re-
election for Amaechi. His tenure has expired
except if he wants to extend his tenure and there
is no tenure elongation in the NGF."
However, efforts to get the Rivers State
Commissioner for Information and Commnications,
Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, and the Chief Press
Secretary to the Governor, Mr. David Iyofor, to
react to Gulak's statement were not fruitful.

While a personal assistant to the commissioner said Semenitari was indisposed, Iyofor, who promised to call one of our correspondents back, did not do so. But a dependable source in Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt confided in The PUNCH that Amaechi was keen on seeking re-election as the forum's chairman.

The source, who claimed that a part of the rules
governing the forum had long been altered to
accommodate any incumbent chairman seeking a
second term to do so. He added, "I can tell you that the governor will not be stampeded into quitting. He will prefer to stand the election and be defeated than shying away from it because some outsiders are now interested in displacing him. Mind you, Governor Amaechi is a good fighter."

The PDP had in its bid to whittle down Amaechi
influence as NGF chairman created the forum of its governors headed by Akpabio. Two weeks ago, a
court sacked Ameachi's loyalists from the helm
of affairs at the Rivers State chapter of the PDP.

It took only 24 hours for the national secretariat
of the PDP to inaugurate a new executive council
of the party in the state.