The factionalisation of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum has affected the comradeship among the 36 governors of the federation, Asishana Okauru, the Director-General of the NGF, has said.
The Director-General made the remark on Wednesday in Kano at the inaugural meeting of the NGF State Peer Review Mechanism with members of the state executive council.
Okauru, who was commenting for the first time on the crisis rocking the governors’ forum, appealed to Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his colleagues to resolve their differences.
The NGF split into two factions on May 24, 2013 when Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State emerged as chairman of the forum in a disputed election.
Amaechi polled 19 votes while Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, who contested the position with him, got 16 votes.
“I would like to seize this opportunity to appeal to you and your colleagues to quickly resolve your differences and come back together under the NGF platform,” Okauru said.
He said that the forum had lost “lots of grounds” as a result of the crisis, adding that the comradeship among the governors had also been weakened.
He expressed regret that the forum, which he described as a “formidable platform and spoke with one voice” on national issues, was no longer united.
Okauru listed some of the issues to include the management of the Excess Crude Account, constitutionalism and youth unemployment.
The State Peer Review Mechanism was conceived by the NGF as an instrument to assist states accelerate the pace of their development through periodic reviews of progress in the implementation of development policies, plans and programmes.
Kwankwaso welcomed the appeal by Okauru, saying it was in the interest of the country to have a united NGF.
He called for the intervention of the Federal Government to resolve the crisis.
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