Rivers Assembly, NUJ, others differ on NGF election
MAY 27, 2013
Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr. Otelemaba Amachree
THE outcome of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum has further divided the Rivers State House of Assembly.
While the Speaker of the House, Mr. Otelemaba Amachree, congratulated the State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, on his victory at the NGF election, five members of the House maintained that the governor did not win the election.
Amachree described Amaechi’s re-election as the NGF chairman as a feat that justified the governor’s name, Chibuike (power belongs to God).
But the five members of the House, who are loyalists of the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, disagreed with the Speaker and added that Amachree had no right to speak on behalf of the Assembly.
The five members of the House, who are anti-Amaechi, are Evans Bibi, Michael Chinda, Martins Amaehule, Victor Ihouwo and Kelechi Nwogu.
Also, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has called on Jang to accept defeat in the interest of democracy.
The Rivers State Chairman of the CNPP, Dr. Manaidi Dagogo-Jack, who made this call in Port Harcourt on Sunday, described as unfortunate a situation where Jang would conspire with some governors to disregard the verdict of the NGF election and declare himself the chairman of the forum.
Meanwhile, the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists Malam Muhammad Garba said on Sunday that if the current crack in the NGF was allowed to persist, it could derail the nation’s democracy.
Garba, who is also the President, Federation of African Journalists, described the action of the governors as most unfortunate.
In the same vein, the Plateau Merger Group, a group of opposition parties, which supports the emergence of the All Progressive Congress, has endorsed the emergence of Amaechi as NGF chairman.
However their support did not tally with the position of the State Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Haruna Dabin, who saw Jang as a good emergence for PDP and a stabilising factor in the NGF.
PMG, at the end of a meeting on Saturday to appraise the position of the opposition parties on the merger, said as democrats, they endorse Amaechi’s emergence as a demonstration of the principles of the rule of law.
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