Fayemi is new NGF chair; Dickson heads PDP Governors Forum

Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti is the new chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) through a consensus.
But the Governor òf Bayelsa State, the Honorable Henry Seriake Dickson, has emerged Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum
The former Chairman òf the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo òf Gombe State announced Governor Dickson’s emergence after a meeting at the Gombe State Governors Lodge, Abuja on Wednesday night.
Gov. Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara, the outgoing chairman of the NGF announced the emergence of Fayemi after a meeting held on Wednesday night in Abuja.
Yari said Fayemi was nominated by Malam Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, seconded by the Governor of Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa and unanimously elected by the governors to lead the forum till 2021.
Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State emerged the vice Chairman of the forum from 2019 to 2021.
The PDP Governors meeting was attended by all the PDP governors, the President òf Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Speaker òf the House òf Representatives , Yakubu Dogara, the Chairman òf the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus.
Shortly after presenting the new Chairman òf the PDP Governors Forum to Journalists, Dankwambo said that the governors elected under the platform expressed concern over the state of insecurity in the country.
According to him, the governors were worried by the adverse effects of the growing insecurity on food production in the country.
He added further that the governors decried the situation where farmers are scared of going to the farms in fear of being killed or kidnapped.
The Governors called on President Muhammad Buhari to address the serious challenge by declaring a state of emergency on security.
The full body of Governors under NGF chose the opportunity of their meeting to frown at the National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) guidelines on the operation of Local Government accounts.
The guidelines according to Governor Yari, the oit-going NGF head, sought to impose restriction on the powers of states and local governments to operate within constitutionally approved parameters.
“The new guidelines have no legal basis under the NFIU Act and are contrary to constitutional provisions which put the State Joint Local Government Account under the legislation of the State Houses of Assembly.
“The guidelines will also be detrimental to the interest of States and local governments by crippling programmes such as the Universal Basic Education programme, Primary Health Care Under One Roof, as well as the payment of the salaries of teachers, medical doctor and health workers among others which are primarily funded by state governments.”
On the call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to declare state of emergency on issue of insecurity, Yari said that they had all agreed to meet President Muhammadu Buhari for one-on-one discussion.
“The issue of security is under the mandate of Mr president, we are supporting him because he is the Commander-in-Chief and we hope to come up with solutions with him, ” he said.
“The issue of security is under the mandate of Mr president, we are supporting him because he is the Commander-in-Chief and we hope to come up with solutions with him”, he said.