₦airaland Forum

Acting President: [size=14pt]24 governors meet with Jonathan[/size]

Governors from 24 States on Friday met with Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to convey the decision of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) endorsing him as Acting President. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the Chairman of the Forum and the governor of Kwara state, Bukola Saraki, led the delegation to the meeting, which was held at the State House, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The unscheduled meeting, which was held behind closed-doors, lasted for more than 30 minutes and the forums chairman, Mr. Saraki, spoke with the State House Correspondents after the meeting, saying that the forum decided that the vice president should become acting president in order to move the nation forward.

``We associate ourselves with the court rulings that have been given recently on the constitutional issue regarding the President and the Vice President.

``We also resolve that the Vice President has been acting admirably going by some of the actions that have so far been taken.

``Also, we have now agreed to meet with the leadership of the National Assembly to urge them to pass a resolution, recognising the Vice President as the acting president in the interest of moving the nation forward,'' he said.

Asked whether the National Assembly could pass such a resolution without the President transmitting a letter as required by Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, Mr. Saraki said that the decision was taken in the interest of the country.

Speaking in the same vein, the Cross Rivers state governor, Liyel Imoke, said that the forum took the position to back Jonathan as acting president so that there would be no vacuum in governance.

``We believe that at this point in time it is necessary that appropriate action be taken and solution be found to what appears to be a problem of existence of a vacuum.

``I don't share the view that a vacuum exist because the Vice President, clearly, had the same number of votes as the President.

``Those who insist on the existence of a vacuum do not understand why the Constitution insists that the President and Vice President should run on the same ticket.

``Section 145 has been interpreted by the court; it starts with the words, `whenever the President transmits a letter.

``In the event that the transmission does not occur, certain action can be taken to guarantee the stability of the nation and that is what we have just done,'' Mr. Imoke said.

Gov. Gabriel Suswan of Benue also agreed that the National Assembly could constitutionally passed a resolution making the Vice President acting president without the President transmitting a letter.

``If, for instance, you find a situation where an accident happens and the President is in a coma, what happens? Do we just fold our arms and wait?

``The 1999 Constitution gives the National Assembly the constitutional responsibility to make laws for the good governance of this country.

``If the President is not in a position to transmit a letter and the National Assembly passes a resolution to this effect, it is assumed that the proper thing has been done,'' he said.

Supportive north

Meanwhile, Governors Godswill Akpabio and Namadi Sambo of Akwa-Ibom and Kaduna, respectively, have denied rumours making the round that the northern governors were not in support of the position taken by the NGF on the matter.

They maintained that the decision was unanimously taken irrespective of geo-political zones or party affiliation.

Other Governors at the meeting were Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Sullivan Chime of Enugu, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Segun Oni of Ekiti, Timpreye Sylva of Bayelsa and Theodore Orji of Abia.

Governors Martins Elechi of Ebonyi, Aliyu Akwe-Doma of Nasarawa, Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno, Adams Oshiomole of Edo, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and Usman Dakkigyari of Kebbi, also attended the meeting.

Also present were Danjuma Goje of Gombe, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi, while Kogi, Osun and Jigawa States were represented by their deputy governors.

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday endorsed the resolution of the 36 states Governors Forum which seeks strict compliance with provisions of the constitution.

The National Vice Chairman North-West Zone, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Danladi Sankara, said the position of the governors would allow for Mr Jonathan to be declared Acting President, pending the return of President Yar'Adua from medical vacation.

Mr Sankara who spoke with newsmen in Kano on Friday said the position taken by the governors was a proactive measure to resolve the constitutional crisis raised by the president's absence from the country.

"We firmly endorse the position of the 36 state governors and that of the 19 Northern Governors, which resolved on the need for adherence to the provisions of the constitution to declare Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President pending the full recovery of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua," he said.

"The position taken by the governors was a validation of the earlier position of our eminent leaders such as former President Shehu Shagari, General Yakubu Gowon and other prominent Nigerians who called for restraint and strict adherence to the provisions of the Constitution. It is a very simple issue that was over-politicized".

He said the Vice President has proved a responsible and trustworthy leader, having with stand all storm to ensure continuity in governance even without Yar'Adua.

"The Vice President has been a trustworthy and responsible leader who refused to be distracted by focusing on his duties that ensured continuity. The PDP has given him full backing," he said.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5523042-146/acting_president_24_governors_meet_with.csp

Iranoladun:
Opinions may differ but truth is a sacrosanct.
We are all watching & waiting for the truth of this Yaradua's saga to be blown into the open.
Very soon my people; katakata go burst!

The man is dead and people have been forging documents in his name. That is what they want to hide, even this so called letter that Abba Aji is so sure Yar Adua will write (as if he is Yar Adua's brain or he is his boss ), even that too will be a forgery.

He said the President has been [b]inaccessible [/b]to top Nigerian officials because he was being kept in the ward meant for the King of Saudi Arabia, with the best of security.

Na prison?

Anyways, we prayerful Nigerians have watched with gleeful wonderment as our long dead president engaged all comers in rigorous games of squash in far away Saudi. His spare time was taken up in, signing every page of the 300 page budget, watching football and making lively phone calls to the BBC.
In recent times, he has also taken to writing power vacation letters, while keeping it secret that his real reason for being incommunicado is that he is dead.

. . .Now if all the above aren't massive accomplishments for a dead man, then I wonder what is. . . But we serve a "miracle working god" who has allowed a dead man rule us for very close to 3 months now. Wow!

This is just another smokescreen. Dead men don't write letters.

Enjoy!

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWMWgRkK_4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&[/flash]

moore20:
hi please i need someone to send me mysql server  2008 setup to moore501@yahoo.com i'll really appreciate it

All 2GB+?

@topic
If you are a student SQL Server is 100% free to you.
You need to belong in a uni whose logon, Microsoft recognises though.

Jesu!

rabzy:
Hey Dimka

you've started a post that could get very heated here, i don't like it when people throw insults around. i hope this won't degenerate too fast and too bad, I heard about the benin oral tradition of the prince that left Benin, but oral traditions would still be hearsay, we can't be 100% sure that the benins did not bring that up to counter the Yoruba claim, but from both yoruba and benin oral tradition, the benins were never an offshoot of the yorubas,

Then the benin/dahomey stuff you said, what has that got to do with the Edo kingdom, pls more enlightenment is urgently needed,

Benin "oral" traditions are astonishing in their level of detail and accuracy. They can provide exact dates for events that occur two thousand years ago; as far as I know, only the Ijaw can beat that and their version of history is the same as the Benin one (Ijaws gave birth to the bulk of practically all Southern Nigerian populations).

Both the bight of Benin and Benin republic were named after Benin kingdom (which extended as far as Ghana and Togo (the Eyadema's are Edo) to the West and Gabon to the East). Even the name, Dahomey is derived from the name of the Edo general that conquered the place; his name was Isidahomen and you can still find his offspring, bearing the same name among the Esans today.

Yes, the Edo ruled over huge swathes of Yoruba land and founded Lagos as a military outpost to guard the Western seas up to Ghana.
When the British came, the only kingdom in the South that they considered threathening was the Benin Kingdom. So while they were diplomatic to others, they set about military treaties first and then military campaigns against the Edo; these included Lagos wars concerning madam Tinubu etc and culminated in the punitive expedition (after a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Edo). The punitive expedtion saw Benin razed to the ground and all valuables taken away to Europe, the oba (Overhamwen) was exiled and Benins power was totally decimated, allowing the British to complete the conquest of Southern Nigeria.

If you are a Southern Nigerian that wants an education in history, go the the Edo's and Ijaw's first, then go to your own custodians. You will be enriched.