NGF SAGA: Amaechi Summon Governors?

The meeting will hold on Wednesday night.

The Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, has called for a meeting of the forum.

The meeting is expected to hold on Wednesday by 8:00 p.m. at the Rivers Governors Lodge, Abuja.

The invitation for the meeting was signed by one Chidinma Onyenalim, an aide to the forum chairman.

The meeting is the first to be called by Mr. Amaechi since his controversial re-election on May 24 at a governors’ meeting. The Rivers Governor had defeated Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau by 19 votes to 16 to emerge chairman. Mr. Jang, however, rejected the result, proclaimed himself chairman, and has since been presiding over meetings of a faction of governors loyal to him.

Mr. Amaechi, who has been suspended by the Peoples Democratic Party, is believed to command the loyalty of about 18 governors, although it is not clear if they’ll all attend the meeting.

Source: Premium Times

UPDATE: Jonathan schedules dinner for Governors

The battle line seems to have been drawn between the Presidency and the Rivers state Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday, summoned an emergency dinner meeting of all state Governors for Wednesday night.

Curiously, the parley which will hold at the Presidential Villa, 8pm on Wednesday, is the same time and day as that of the Nigerian Governors Forum meeting called by Amaechi.

However, the President’s invitation was sent out three hours after Amaechi sent out his, a move widely believed to be a strategy by the President’s camp to identify Governors for and against Mr. Jonathan’s leadership.

It is no longer news that the controversial May 24 election of the NGF, has since pitched state governors against each other. Some have in fact openly declared their support for the faction they belong.

Result of the votes had given Ameachi victory over his rival, Plateau state governor, Jonah Jang, but the latter declared himself winner and has already opened a parallel secretariat.

The first meeting summoned by Jang held last Monday and was attended mainly by governors under the platform of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP. However, not all the PDP governors were in attendance.

Although Ameachi was been suspended by the party’s National Working Committee that was disbanded last Thursday, he still enjoys support of all opposition governors as well as some of the Northern governors in the PDP.

Source: Daily Post