OLUSOLA FABIYI writes that after two years, Nigerians will judge whether the new chairman of the Governors\u2019 Forum, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has delivered or not<\/span><\/p>\n Rivers State governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has a way of emerging triumphant, even in battles that he never prepared for. Until he and his colleagues converged on Ilorin, the Kwara State capital recently, Amaechi did not show any interest openly in becoming the chairman of the Nigerian Governors\u2019 Forum. Always casually dressed, Amaechi could be described as one of the governors that would want to miss the forum\u2019s meetings. But he is said to be one of the few governors, who would always pay their state dues into the purse of the forum.<\/span><\/p>\n Until the Kwara meeting, where he was elected as the successor to the former governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki as the next chairman of the forum, three names had been touted as the likely chairman of the forum. Those said to be in line were Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) of Lagos State; his counterparts in Anambra and Niger, states, Mr. Peter Obi and Dr. Babangida Aliyu respectively. Apart from these three governors, many others were also said to be interested in stepping into the shoes of Saraki as the boss of the forum for the next two years. Sources close to the forum, however, said the above three were essentially considered by other governors for the exalted position.<\/span><\/p>\n Fashola has been described as being intellectually sound with the way he handled two assignments given to him by the forum. It was gathered that the second time governor of Lagos endeared himself into his colleagues hearts with the way he handled the question of succession when Saraki was nearly removed through a coup plot by some of his colleagues headed by the governor of Benue State, Mr. Gabriel Suswam. The Benue State governor had led a few members of the forum to Abuja during the campaign for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party. There, Suswam and his group announced the former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, as their new chairman.<\/span><\/p>\n But individually, the governors had issued statements denouncing Suswam and Daniel, saying Saraki was still their chairman. Amaechi was very vocal in condemning the act, which he then described as unacceptable. It was after this incident that the forum met and appointed Fashola as the leader of a team saddled with the responsibility of fashioning out the tenure and succession agenda for the forum. In his report, Fashola recommended the need for the forum to have a deputy and that the tenure of its leadership should be limited to one year. Though the forum accepted the deputy chairmanship position as recommended by the Fashola committee and went ahead to appoint Obi to the first occupier of the position, it however said one year would not be enough for the leadership to make a meaningful impact.<\/span><\/p>\n Also, Fashola was appointed as the leader of the team that looked into the Revenue Formula when the Federal Government increased the minimum wage to N18,000. The report of his team was said to have been accepted by the forum, which is being used to demand a review of the formula by states before they could pay the new minimum wage. However, what was said to have worked against Fashola was the fact that he belongs to the Action Congress of Nigeria, which is a minority party among the PDP-led majority governors. His counterparts in the PDP were said to have made up their minds that the position was too important to them to be left in the hands of an opposition governor.<\/span><\/p>\n Obi, on the other hand, was also considered since he was deputy to Saraki. He also belongs to an opposition party \u2013 the All Progressive Grand Alliance. A source, however, said some members of the forum were comfortable with him since his party, which also openly endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan during the presidential election, does not pose a threat to the PDP, but added that the governor did not have enough charisma to lead his colleagues. The third contender, Aliyu, was said to have the support of members of the Northern Governors\u2019 Forum, which he currently heads.<\/span><\/p>\n But some of the governors said that since Saraki is from the North, the next chairman should come from the Southern part of the country. In an interview with journalists a few days before the election, Saraki had said that the forum would use its guidelines in electing his successor, but there would be nothing like ranking, as all the governors were qualified to occupy the position. He had said there was nothing that implied that the political party with the highest number of governors should produce the chairman, but added that the same political party would not be allowed to produce both the chairman and the deputy. He said, \u201cThere is nothing in our guidelines for the election that says it must be the PDP. The only thing it says is that if the chairman comes from a party \u2018A,\u2019 we should try and take the deputy from another party. It is very clear; there is nowhere it says the chairman must come from the ruling party. What it says is that it moves around so that everybody has a sense of rotational belonging not zoning per se.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A governor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that before the meeting, Amaechi was never considered for the position, but that his colleagues felt he was in the best position to lead them for many reasons. This would not be the first time that Amaechi would be a providential man. While he was validly nominated as the governorship candidate of the PDP for the April 2007 election, the powers-that-be then, headed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, decided otherwise as they substituted his name with that of Mr. Celestine Omehia. The former governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili and the party, with contribution from Omehia, traversed the entire state to campaign. Their efforts paid off as Omehia was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Like the patient dog that eats the fattest bone, Amaechi later took his case to the courts and the Supreme Court eventually ruled that the substitution of his name with that of Omehia was illegal. Thus, without spending anything on campaigns, he was inaugurated as the governor of the state.<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps, it was this providence that followed him to Ilorin that Monday, when his counterpart from Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, moved the motion for his election. Two other governors \u2013 Danjuma Goje (Gombe) and Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) \u2013seconded the motion at a meeting attended by 21 governors.<\/span><\/p>\n But what type of leadership will Amaechi provide? Before now, he was said to be a rallying point for his colleagues and had always stood for their cause. For example, an investigation by our correspondent showed that while the leadership of the PDP and the Presidency were planning to change the order of the party\u2019s primaries that would make the presidential primary come before that of the governorship, it was Amaechi who stood in the forefront of the campaign against that move before the party and the Presidency backed down. This apart, the way he was said to have piloted the affairs of the Conference of Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria, which he had headed before, was believed to have swayed some of his opponents to his side. Before being elected chairman, he was the speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2007.<\/span><\/p>\n Giving a hint of how he would run his two-year tenure, which began on May 29, Amaechi said he would consolidate on the achievements of the forum. The governor added that the forum would continue to collaborate with the Presidency in order to get more revenue for the states for adequate financing of projects and continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to their respective states. Amaechi added that the forum would collaborate with the President and liaise with the National Assembly so that more funds would be made available to the states for the promotion of education. He stated that the Federal Government\u2019s amnesty programme was making great impact in the Niger Delta.<\/span><\/p>\n He said, \u201cThe forum will engage with the Revenue Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the President of the Republic as well as the mass media. Members of the Fashola Committee and the secretariat were enjoined to lead the media campaign.\u201d He appealed to the Federal Government to give more funds to the states so that they could address the problems of poverty in the country. He stated that the creation of employment opportunities for the youths and enabling business environment would reduce crime, youth restiveness, improve on the security of lives and property and prevent violence. The new NGF chairman pointed out that the judiciary should be seen as the only means of getting justice, instead of resorting to anarchy and destruction of lives and property in the guise of protest. Amaechi said the forum had adopted the Fashola committee recommendation on the issue of revenue allocation, adding that the NGF would consider the possibility of negotiating with the Presidency and the National Assembly for the desired change in revenue allocation.<\/span><\/p>\n