Governors’ Meeting, Ends In Stalemate

The meeting of the Nigeria Governors‘ Forum (NGF) on
Wednesday in Abuja ended in a stalemate without the usual media briefing by its
Chairman, Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi.

Our correspondent reports that the meeting, which was to
discuss the forum’s stance on the on-going constitutional amendment, was attended
by nine governors and eight Deputies.

The Governors include those of Rivers, Ebonyi, Akwa-Ibom,
Ekiti, Ondo, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kano and Kogi states.

Deputy Governors of Niger, Adamawa, Yobe, Jigawa, Cross
River, Bayelsa, Delta and Nasarawa states also attended the meeting.

The forum had at its last meeting of August 8 deferred its
debate on the on-going constitutional amendment until the end of the Ramadan
fasting period.

Amaechi, the forum’s chairman, said the forum would continue
the debate when Muslim faithfuls had returned from the Lesser Hajj.

This, however, meant that the media was not briefed on the
outcome of the closed-door meeting which ended without any communiqué.

It would be recalled that the northern state governors,
ahead of the review of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly, had
opposed the creation of state police.

It had also opposed the inclusion of the country’s six
geo-political zones in the Constitution.

The governors also demanded the abrogation of the
offshore/onshore dichotomy and the derivation principle.

The derivation principle allows oil-producing states to
retain 13 per cent of the total revenue derived from exploration of mineral
resources.

The position of the governors is to set the tone of debate
on these contentious issues by members of the National Assembly during the
constitutional amendment process.

The Northern Governors’ Forum had hinted that it would
communicate its position on these issues to lawmakers from the North to serve
as a guide during the review process.

The 19 northern state governors’ position came on the heels
of a statement credited to the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to the
effect that the 36 governors had agreed that state police was long overdue.