Governors Forum, threat to democracy – Clark

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan

A former Information Minister, Chief Edwin Clerk, on Thursday, said the existence of Nigeria Governors Forum was a threat to the nation’s democracy.

Clark also claimed that there was no pact between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan on whether the latter would run for a single term or not.

Members of the NGF, the elder statesman said, now behaved like an opposition party to the Federal Government.

Clark, a close confidant of Jonathan, in a letter to the Forum, which he read at a press briefing at his Abuja residence, added that members of the group had been breaching the nation’s constitution with impunity.

He said, “I wish to dwell on some of the offending activities of the Governors Forum which are driving the country to madness but which, as members, you do not care about, provided you achieve your purpose and the Forum’s over-bearing influence on the Peoples Democratic Party, the supremacy of which you have hijacked.

“The Governors Forum is now acting as an opposition party to the Federal Government.

“It deliberately breaches with impunity, the nation’s constitution and the constitution of the PDP, without any challenges.

“The Forum has now become a threat to the peace and stability of Nigeria. Many of the governors today are more dictatorial than the then military governors.”

Following the NGF’s activities, Clark said the PDP was no longer in control of any of its organs and had not been able to organise proper congresses and conventions.

On the alleged agreement between Jonathan and Obasanjo, he said, “Obasanjo has no right to determine the tenure of Jonathan. It is only the constitution that could determine that. I am not aware that there was any such agreement.”

He also accused Obasanjo and a former PDP National Chairman, Ahmadu Ali, of destroying the party because of their selfish interest.

Clark said, “We witnessed the bastardisation of the party by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and the former National Chairman of the party, Ahmadu Ali, who for their own interest frustrated all the founding fathers of the party.

Meanwhile, the NGF Director-General, Dr.  Asishana Okauru, said the Forum was covered by Section 40 of the constitution, maintaining that countries like the United States of America, China, and Brazil have similar associations.

Okauru argued that contrary to the claim that the NGF was a threat to the nation’s democracy, the forum remained a policy hob with a robust secretariat.



Source: Punch