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The
Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, on Thursday in Abuja said the
Northern States’ Governors Forum and its leadership should be blamed for
the crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).
Mr. Yuguda made
this assertion during an interview with State House correspondents
shortly after he held a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the
Presidential Villa.
“The blame for
all the crises and all the unfortunate comments made about the governors
today should be traced to the Northern States’ Governors Forum (NSGF)
because we the members are the culprits.
“That is why I say, on his honour, let the Chairman of the NSGF come out and tell Nigerians the truth.
“It is either of
the two that we the 19 northern states governors did not come out with
Jonah Jang (the Plateau Governor) as the consensus candidate, or we
decided and picked Jang as our consensus candidate.
“So, if that has been done all these things that we have seen wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
The governor
however said he was going to take a different approach henceforth to
ensure there would not be a recurrence of such.
“That is why I
now say, as far as I am concerned, that if I will sit with my colleagues
and we will take a decision and some people will then go and do a
different thing, I will not be part of those kind of things.
“I, as a person,
will not attend such a meeting again. But my Deputy Governor can attend
on behalf of the people and government of Bauchi state. But, as a
person, I will not. That has always been my position,’” he said.
Mr. Yuguda,
speaking further on the NGF crisis, explained that it was the turn of
the North to produce the chairman of the forum.
“It was based on this that the NSGF endorsed the Plateau Governor as a consensus candidate,’’ he said.
The Bauchi State
Governor said it was unfortunate that the Niger Governor and NSGF
Chairman could not come out openly to defend the position.
“If today we 19
governors can sit down in Abuja and decide that one of us who is
supposed to be rightfully the Chairman of the NGF, because the slot is
for the North, is elected, there is nothing wrong with that.
“We were 19 out
of the 35 governors, who were present, and we had decided and we went
with that decision. Normally when we take a decision, our chairman will
speak to announce it.
“By affirmation, all of us decided on one person and that is Jonah Jang, the governor of Plateau.
“So, on our own
honour, we went to the PDP Governors’ Forum and the chairman of the
NSGF, who is the Talba of Minna and governor of Niger, presented Jang as
our consensus candidate.
“And there was a
standing ovation. We were congratulated and appreciated by our
colleagues, that we (I and Gov. Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State) stepped
down for Jang,” he said.
Mr. Yuguda said that there had never been a time the chairman of the NGF had emerged by any election but only by a consensus.
“In the first
place, we have never had any election in the NGF. I was in Ilorin and I
was the one who seconded the motion that made Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of
Rivers the chairman of NGF.
“Only 13 of us
were in Ilorin and if 19 governors presented a candidate in a 35-member
association, I think the game is over and it has been a consensus.
“There must be
integrity in governance, because we the governors should be people of
integrity. We should be role models and we should not play evil politics
as far as I am concerned, because most people associate politics to
evil.
“If you don’t
know how to tell lies, if you don’t know how to betray, if you don’t
know how to have double face, you are not a good politician.
“But I am not
carved out for that. I am a professional chartered banker. I was the
Managing Director of two banks and I served this country as cabinet
minister twice and governor twice.
“My word should
be my bond, and if I sat down with 18 of my colleagues and we have
agreed on something, I should not see the chairman of that forum
reneging on the integrity of the NSGF and by extension the NGF,’’ he
said.
The Bauchi State
Governor also underscored the need to put in place a Code of Conduct
which would be guiding the activities of the NGF.
“If there is no
such code of conduct and ethics guiding the office of a governor, very
soon nobody will want to be a governor. We should all go and sleep and
think over that and we will all confirm that I am right. There is honour
in leadership and God sanctions leadership.
“If God has sanctioned leadership in our books of faith, I can’t see evil associated with leadership,’’ he said.
Mr. Yuguda was among 14 northern governors who shunned Thursday’s meeting of the NSGF.
Palpable
fear has allegedly gripped the people of Anambra State especially
residents of Onitsha, sequel to the reported arrival of group of
soldiers in droves for security build up against the alleged Sit-At-Home
order being canvassed by the Movement for the Actualisation of the
Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB.
Galatasaray
sporting director Bulent Tulun is currently in London talking with the
top hierarchy of the London club on the acquisition of Mikel.
