Ekiti Gov. Kayode Fayemi Emerges New NGF Chairman

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has been unanimously chosen as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF.

He was nominated by Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-rufai and was seconded by Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa.

He takes over from Zamfara State Governor, Abdulazeez Yari.

At the forum’s meeting last night, Sokoto state Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was also chosen as the vice chairman of the forum

Meanwhile, in a statement issued before the election, the Bayelsa State Governor and Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, Seriake Dickson called on the 36 governors to adopt the principle of rotation of power to pick a new leader for the NGF.

The governor said in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media Relations, Mr Fidelis Soriwei, that the decision on who should be the next NGF chairman should be guided by the time-tested principle of rotation between the North and the South.

The governor said the next NGF chairman should come from the South after the end of the tenure of the incumbent, Yari, who is also the governor of Zamfara State.

Dickson added that the governors elected under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party would not contest the position in consonance with the precedence that the NGF chairman should be a ranking governor from the ruling political party.

He stressed that the PDP governors would not make any move to endanger the time honoured principle guiding the emergence of the NGF chairman.

However, Dickson noted that the next NGF chairman should emerge preferably through consensus among the governors.

He said, “I am calling on the governors who would assemble today (Wednesday) to take a decision on the chairmanship of the NGF to be guided by the time-tested principle of rotation of power between the North and the South.

“Now that Alhaji Abdulazeez Yari, the governor of Zamfara State will be ending his tenure, we expect that the next chairman should come from the South.

“The precedence is that the ruling party produces the chairman.”

Speaking after his election, Fayemi who said that he and his deputy are happy by their emergence via consensus, however, promised to build on the success forum that started from Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa State.

According to him, they will build on the strong partnership with the federal government as led by Yari, adding that they will represent Nigeria, regardless of party affiliations and ensure the partnership with the federal government, legislature and development partners will be in the part interest of all.

NGF has produced six chairmen in the last 20 years of the nation’s democracy.

They are: Alh. Abdullahi Adamu, (Nasarawa, 1999 – 2004), Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah (Akwa Ibom State, 2004 -2006), Chief Lucky Igbinedion (Edo, 2006 – 2007), Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki (Kwara, 2007- 2011), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers, 2011 -2015) and Abdulaziz Yari (2015-2019).