Dickson roots for Obaseki as next NGF chair

There are indications that Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson is currently canvassing for Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki as the next chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

The Bayelsa State governor, ahead of the decision on the next chairman of the forum, has charged the 36 states’ governors of the federation to ensure that the next chairman of the forum emerged from South-South.

In a statement by his Special Adviser, Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, in Abuja on Wednesday, he implored the governors to obey the principle of rotation in the election of a new leader for the Nigerian Governors Forum after the expiration of the tenure of Governor Abdulazeez Yari òf Zamfara State.

Dickson further maintained that governors elected under his party, PDP, will not contest the position in agreement to the forum’s principle which says the NGF chairman should be a ranking governor from the ruling political party.

Meanwhile, Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, remains the only APC governor from the South-South region whose tenure is currently running.

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Recall that members of NGF are slated to meet in Abuja on Wednesday (today) night to elect a new chairman.

Meanwhile, both the governors of Ekiti and Kaduna States, Kayode Fayemi and Nasir El-Rufai are said to have signified interest in the position.

The statement read; “I am calling on the governors who would assemble today to take a decision on the Chairmanship òf the Governor’s Forum to be guided by the time-tested principle of rotation between the North and the South.

“Now that the Alhaji Abdulazeez Yari, Governor òf Zamfara State would 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. The PDP Governors have no desire to be disruptive and expect that Abdulfatai Yahaya-Seriki, a ranking Governor from the APC, the party with the majority would be the next chairman”.

Congratulating his counterpart from Zamfara state on successful completion of his tenure, Dickson said Yari collaborated with the Federal Government to address “a myriad of issues such as the refund of the Paris club money, and other issues affecting state finances.”

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