The governors look to God to settle their political scores. Amaechi to Mimiko: “I am willing to go with him to his Church, Redeemed Church, we kneel on the altar and say it before God.” Mimiko: “Amaechi should not hide under religion to cover up his anti-democratic dispositions.” Yuguda to Babangida Aliyu: “I am not into politics to betray and deceive people because I am not ready to go to hell.” Sometime in June, at the peak of the controversy trailing the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, election; its chairman, Chibuike Amaechi, paid a scheduled visit to the Forum’s secretariat in the Asokoro District of Abuja. It was his first visit since the May 24 election, which tore the association of the 36 state governors in the country, into two. In that election, Mr. Amaechi, governor of the oil-rich Rivers State, had beaten his lone challenger and Plateau State counterpart, Jonah Jang, by 19 votes to 16; but the latter, prompted by those who voted for him, and backed by the presidency and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, rejected the result and proceeded to float a parallel NGF. Mr. Amaechi, accompanied by Governor Kayode Fayemi, with whom he recently became more acquainted, made the visit shortly after the video of the contentious election leaked, which punctured the claims of some of the participants in the election that it was manipulated. At the end of the visit, during which he inspected the secretariat, the governor was accosted by journalists, who posed series of questions arising from the election. Specifically, the governor was asked if he would relinquish his mandate as demanded by the Jang faction. In his response, Mr. Amaechi did not only vow to keep the mandate given to him by his colleagues, but asked the rival group to return to the fold, insisting that there could not be two secretariats of the NGF. “The election has come and gone. It was a test for democracy and democracy won at the end of the day,” he said, adding, “All we can do as democrats that were elected by the people is to uphold democracy and stand by democracy. I honestly do not know why the disagreement. I don’t know why.” “I believe that my brothers and colleagues will see reason why we should stop distracting the country and get the country united, to focus on development because at the end of the day, it is about legacy, it is about what we will leave behind for the people,” he added. Asked about the implications of the contentious election, Mr. Amaechi went religious, wondering why Mr. Jang and the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, both of them Christians, could lie about their participation in the election when the video recording of the event clearly revealed their roles. For him, such attitude could negatively affect the 2015 general elections. “Again, tell my brother, Mimiko, that he voted. If he still says he did not vote, I am willing to go with him to his Church, Redeemed Church, we kneel on the altar and say it before God,” he said. “I want to urge Jang, because he said he is Christian, to know that God watches over everybody and whatever you say, say it according to God because beyond NGF, you and I know that there is heaven and you can’t go to heaven if you don’t tell the truth and stand by the truth. “I am not saying he is not saying the truth, I am not saying he is not standing by the truth, I am just saying that nobody can go to heaven when he is not saying the truth. “There is no special benefit that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum chairman is getting. I don’t see why there is this disagreement. When I read them saying I am desperate, desperate for what? I am only proving a point that Nigerians are allowed to run for any post they want to run. “And when they do and they are elected, they should stick to their mandates. That is the only point. “My brothers, who are complaining not about the election, should come back and let’s work together. They must be willing, just as we are willing, to accept. “It is not really a battle. It is about God. I usually tell people, don’t win the battle and lose the war. “I think all of us should come together and work for the interest of the nation and for the interest of the poor masses.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 10:58:06 +0000