The Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have expressed their full support for Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State amid his ongoing conflict with his predecessor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
This renewed backing for Governor Fubara comes in light of a contentious party congress during which he was excluded from participation.
The governors have urged the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to reassess the proceedings of the congress and ensure that Fubara is granted his rightful position within the party’s leadership structure.
These decisions were part of the resolutions made during the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) meeting held in Jalingo, Taraba State, on Friday.
The forum addressed significant intra-party issues as well as governance challenges that impact their respective states and hold national significance.
A communique released at the end of the meeting said: “The Forum notes the political impasse in Rivers State, where court judgements are employed to determine the outcome of the party congresses.
“The PDP Governors’ Forum restates its stand with the Governor of Rivers State and will engage the NWC of our great party to revisit the congress with a view to correcting the anomaly and allowing His Excellency Governor Siminalayi Fubara to take his rightful leadership position of the party in the state.”
The opposition governors assessed the preparations for the upcoming Edo State governorship election next month and criticized President Bola Tinubu for purportedly attempting to manipulate the process to benefit the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The communiqué said: “With regard to the coming governorship election in Edo State, we condemn the pronouncements by the President to compromise the election in favour of his party as well as the systematic intimidation of PDP supporters by the Nigeria Police and call on the Inspector General of Police to call his men to order.”
The PDP governors lamented what they observed as the federal government’s resort to blackmail rather than undertaking a review of macro-economic and social policies with a view to giving them a human face.
They called on President Tinubu to “show statesmanship by restraining his officials from blame games that make the sub-nationals look bad by mentioning piecemeal interventions that cannot solve the problem.
“We remain unshaken in our firm resolve to stand with the suffering Nigerian masses and to take all legitimate steps to ameliorate their plight.”
The state chief executives of the PDP expressed their apprehension regarding the federal government’s “refusal” to differentiate between the revenue generated by the federal government and the revenue belonging to the federation, which should be distributed in compliance with established laws.
They urged the government to adhere to Section 162 of the Constitution and to separate the roles of the Accountant General of the Federation from those of the Accountant General of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“We call on the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to be more transparent in obeying the law, particularly Section 162 (1), (2), and (3). And equally, call on the Accountant General of the Federation to stop behaving like the Accountant General of the Federal Government and to exercise her role in line with the Constitution.
“Therefore, we call for the separation of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and that of the Accountant General of the FGN,” the communique stated.