When the Chief Executives of the 36 states of the federation formed the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) soon after the return to civil rule in 1999, Nigerians welcomed the idea as a laudable development capable of strengthening the then fledging nascent democracy.

The Forum, as a coalition of the elected governors is a non-partisan association which seeks to promote unity in governance and better understanding among states to ensure a healthy and beneficial relationship between the states and other tiers of government.  It is on record that the Forum has played useful role at certain critical moments of crisis in the country by trying to wedge the country from drifting down the precipice.

The Forum was also instrumental in releasing the excess crude funds from the Paris Club debt to the states in 2008 to augment their income for developmental purposes.

It is disheartening however that this Forum which is supposed to be an independent body of mature, responsible and knowledgeable elected political leaders,  who contribute to national development, as a strong progressive body, is now facing  allegations of external manipulation by the President. This body which is supposed to be capable of checkmating the excesses of Mr. President has degenerated in recent years to a club where members are pre-occupied with their own selfish interests and no longer fostering of the common good of those who elected them.

The fact that the NGF long-expected election of a new chairman ended in a fiasco last week speaks volumes of the present worth of the Forum in the eyes of the Nigerian public. Though the sitting Chairman, Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, was reported to have polled 19 votes as against 16 received by his opponent, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, a few hours later, Governor Godswill Akpabio, of Akwa Ibom State and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor’s Forum announced their ejection of that election, describing it as fraudulent. He accused Amaechi of presiding over an election in which he was an aspirant.  He later addressed a press briefing where his group presented Jang as the consensus chairman of NGF, insisting that their chairman has never emerged through elections but consensus.

As far as the Nigerian public is concerned, the Forum has lost its bearing as the outcome of their controversial election is simply scandalous to the rest of Nigerians.  If the governors can not organize a free and fair election for themselves at their level what do they expect to see at lower levels of the Nigerian political arena?

The Forum, seems to have outstayed its usefulness as, the NGF no longer serves as a platform for peer reviews, and productive collaboration.

The governors are now there to satisfy themselves and no longer to champion or foster the interests of the masses.  It has simply become a Forum for members to strategize how to escape justice after looting public funds, taking cover under the immunity clause.  The Forum helps them to launder money abroad and to intimidate the presidency when it suits them.  The NGF has ceased to be a place where State Chief Executives share experiences in best democratic practices in fulfillment of the election manifestos but avenue to perpetuate their stay in office or get new political appointments after their tenure for personal aggrandizine. Good governance no longer dominate the agenda of their deliberations.  How to steal and how best not to be caught now dominate the psyche of members of NGF.   What we see in the NGF is a bundle of touts and hooligans who threw money around during elections and ended up becoming governors.

We advice the Federal Government to scrap the NGF if the governors cannot live up to expectations.  Infact, Regional Governors Forum should replace the crisis-ridden NGF for sanity to reign. When this is done, Governors forum would truly start to function as an avenue for sharing best practices in democratic governance.

Comments

comments