National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh, on Tuesday condemned the crisis currently rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, saying the impasse was gradually tearing the country apart.
Umeh stated this while delivering a goodwill message at a book presentation in Abuja.
The book, The making of an oracle, was written by the Senior Special Assistant (Corporate Communications) to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Yemi Kolapo.
It is a compilation of her articles on burning issues in the Nigerian economy, published on the back page of The PUNCH between 2007 and 2011.
The event attracted the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, who was represented by Senator Helen Essuene; Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku; his counterpart in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Lemo; and National President, Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mallam Mohammed Garba, among others.
Umeh, who described the author as articulate and objective in her analysis of issues in the economy; urged politicians to stop overheating the polity.
He said, “Today, we can see that the country is over heated, with so much distraction. If we are not talking about security challenges, we are talking about the Governors? forum.We are talking about Governors’ forum when you know that there is nothing like the governors forum in our Constitution.
“We have 36 governors in Nigeria, and everyday we are inundated with activities of 36 men; they are tearing the country apart. It shouldn’t be like that.
“I think the President is paying too much attention to governors. But when an election comes, we have over 70 million people that would vote, and there are 36 governors, if you get them how many votes will they give you?
“So, the President should go beyond the governors and move to the Nigerian people.”
He blamed the Nigerian Constitution that had made the governors to become so powerful, adding that the act of politicking had made them to abandon their people.
He called on politicians to work together to build a united country that would benefit all Nigerians.
He said, “Tomorrow is the 14th anniversary of our democracy, and it has also been a mixture of the good and the bad. But what is most important is that we play our part in a manner that Nigeria will not break up. Everybody must ensure that this country survives.”
Meanwhile, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State has, on behalf of the 36 governors in the country, apologised to Nigerians for some of the issues that came up after the NGF’s elections.
Jang told a group, led by the Peoples Democratic Party Vice Chairman, North Central zone, Yusuf Ayitogo, which was on a solidarity visit to him, that corrections would be made in the forum under his leadership, while efforts would be intensified to reconcile all.