Amaechi remains legitimate chairman of NGF –Fayemi

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has said Governor Rotimi Amaechi remains the authentic Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

He said there should not be any ambiguity in who was validly elected at the Forum’s meeting, which was held on Friday, May 24, in Abuja.

Fayemi, who spoke with our correspondent in an exclusive interview on Friday, said the outcome of the election was glaring and clear to all the 35 governors that were present at the election venue.

It will be recalled that while Amaechi scored 19 votes during the election, his rival, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, got 16 votes.

Jang and his supporters based their actions on the endorsements received before the election and the refusal of Amaechi to vacate the seat of the chairman, before the conduct of the election.

But Fayemi said, “To the best of my knowledge, we have only one authentic and legitimate NGF, which is led by Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, who won the election.

“Clearly, it is obvious that what you are witnessing on Governor Jang’s side is an attempt to keep up appearances.That is why Jang did not have more than 15 governors when he opened his secretariat.

“I hope good reasons would prevail and I know that discussions are ongoing between elements on both sides.

“If 16 governors voted for him and 15 came to the opening of his so-called secretariat, I don’t think that that is the secretariat of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum anyway.”

Jang has, however, said his faction of the Forum would not plead with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party over the suspension of Amaechi from the party.

Moreover, he said the suspension had nothing to do with the NGF.

Jang said, “The matter of suspension of Amaechi isn?t related to the NGF, it is a PDP affair. We have a PDP GGovernor’s Forum, and some of us here are members.

“If Governor Amaechi brings his case to that Forum, we would then look at it, we would then see how we go about it or advise him to go about it.”

Meanwhile, the Middle Belt Youth Assembly on Sunday called on the factional leadership of the NGF under Jang to immediately resolve the crisis of confidence currently rocking the group and “forgive Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.”

MBYA, in a statement by its President, Kingsley Omerigwe, said the crisis had done more harm than good to the image of the NGF.

It stated, “It is our desire that Governor Jang and his colleagues would forgive him (Amaechi) in the interest of peace and unity of the whole country to continue to move the Forum forward, particularly, in delivering uniform dividends of democracy to the common people of Nigeria.”