A new chairman for the Nigeria Governors’ Forum will be elected on Friday (today) by the 36 state chief executives in the country.


This is coming as the governors of 19 northern states were unable to take a decision on who they should support among those jostling for the position.
The inability of the governors to reach a compromise was said to have been responsible for the failure of the northern governors, under the aegis of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, to meet in Abuja on Thursday.
It was learnt that the governors would now meet on Friday before the election to see if they would be able to find some common ground.
While some were said to be rooting for the incumbent, who is also the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, some others were said to be supporting the Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema, or the latest entrant to the race, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State.
It was however learnt that the governors from the zone who do not belong to the Peoples Democratic Party were said to have made their position known that they would support Amaechi for the job.
A northern governor, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We are at a crossroads. This is a trying period for us in the region.
“Some of our colleagues are saying we should not allow anyone to dictate to us while the others are saying we should support one of our own for the job.
“Those in the opposition parties are saying that the Forum does not belong to the Peoples Democratic Party alone.
“Even in the PDP, we could not agree on who to support. That was why we did not meet, but we hope to meet on Friday.”
The governor said a majority of his colleagues from the region believed that both Shema and Yuguda were being foisted on the Forum by external forces.
In the meantime, investigations by our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday indicated that there might be more chairmanship aspirants than expected.
Sources at the secretariat of the Forum said there might be more aspirants for the position of the chairman.
A source said that some governors had called to say that they were on their way to file their nomination papers for the office.
The source said, “The race for the chairmanship of the Forum is interesting, because this is the first time the office is attracting so much attention.
“Already, both Amaechi and Shema have filed their papers, and some have called to say that they are on their way. We are waiting for them.
“Before now, there was no much publicity and acrimony on who would lead the Forum. But now that has changed.”
The source, who declined to name those “on their way” to file nomination forms, however said there would be no rancour after the election.
It was not clear if the Governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji, was able to file his papers.
Orji was a candidate in the earlier botched attempt to elect Amaechi’s successor.
The coming to the race by Yuguda was said to have been at the instance of President Goodluck Jonathan who was said to have been shocked that Shema was not too keen about the position.
Shema’s opponents, it was learnt, were said to be spreading the information that the governor was being used by the Presidency to fight Vice-President Namadi Sambo.
They alleged that Shema might be used to replace the Vice-President in the 2015 election as Jonathan’s running mate.

ok

Our National politics is just getting boring.
WTF is this bunch of lunatics scheming for? Let'em leave all these their unnecessary issues and tackle the problems facing this country for crying out loud.

What are the functions of the chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum?
These people should put more effort in developing their respective states and not all the political propaganda.