Villa with dramatic effects. This is the story of how Governor
Amaechi was humbled one night, while he drew level the following day,
with the active collaboration of his majority governors – both drama
inside the Villa.
Never before has the country witnessed so much drama as it did last
week since the imbroglio over the election of the chairman of the
Nigerian Governors Forum. Since the controversy that erupted following
the rejection by some governors of the election of Rotimi Amaechi as
the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, every action or inaction
of Amaechi who is seen to be in the bad books of the presidency has
been subject to microscopic scrutiny. So when the meeting of the
Nigerian Governors Forumwas convened last Wednesday night, some
loyalists to the president interpreted the action as a further affront
on the president who had scheduled dinner to honour women in his
cabinet for that same night. For many, Amaechi and his group of
nineteen governors who had all been invited for the meeting may not
attend the dinner to further drive home their spite for the president.
They were utterly mistaken.
About thirty minutes into the dinner which had in attendance President
Goodluck Jonathan as well as the president of Malawi,Joyce Banda, the
former Ghanaian President, John Kufour, the president of the senate
and other high ranking government officials, governor Rotimi Amaechi
and his supporter-governorswere ushered into the Banquet hall of the
presidential Villa when the programme of event had already started.
His admission into the hall was an aberration that had never taken
place for a long time. Once the president is seated for a function, no
other person is allowed to come into the venue especially as noisily
as GovernorAmaechi and his colleagues were allowed to do.
According to a security source in the presidential Villa, 'the
decision to allow the governors come in even against protocol was to
avoid the situation whereby unnecessary politics would beread into our
action if we stopped them from entering. We decided to allow them
through the back door so that they would not distract the programme
and we would not be accused of playing politics. It was a delicate
decision that we had to take with a view to balancing our security
obligations while not providing reasons for unnecessary politicking".
It was a decision that they later came to regret, Sunday Vanguard
learnt. As soon as the governors were allowed in, while a few of them
like Governor Rotimi Amaechi went to the front seats which had had
been reserved for them, other governors like Murtala Nyako of Adamawa
and Magatarkada of Sokoto chose to seat at the back of the hall where
seats had been reserved for the media.
But while the Secretary to the government of the Federation, Anyim
Pius Anyim was reading his welcome address, another drama was to play
out between the governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi and the
president's security details. Few minutes after he sat on his seat,
Amaechi moved from his seat and made to towards where the president
and his guests were seated. It was a decision that he apparently did
not think through. His journey was truncated as a security detail of
the president politely but firmly told him that he could not access
the president at that point in time.
Giving reason for the action of the security operatives, a senior
security source at the Villa confided in Sunday Vanguard that it was a
decision that was solely informed by security considerations and not
politics. "The president and his guests were listening to the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation who was delivering his
speech. Allowing governor Amaechi to approach him at that time would
have caused a huge distraction. We could not have afforded to allow
that" he said.
But the drama involving governor Rotimi Amaechi reached its crescendo
on Thursday last week at the meeting of the National Economic Council.
The council is a meeting of the governors under the chairmanship of
the Vice president to forge a common economic front for the state and
the federal government. Before the controversy over the chairmanship
of the Nigerian Governors Forum, the chairman of the Forum usually
occupies a prominentplace and his seat is clearly marked to indicate
that he is the leader of the governors present. But obviously
following directives from above, the sitting arrangement was changed
from the usual. Previously the Chairman of the Governors Forumwould
usually sit directly opposite Vice President Namadi Sambo who chairs
the council but last week Thursday, no seat was allocated for the NGF
chairman ostensibly to avoid a situation whereby the presidency would
be accused of taking sides in the controversy surrounding the NGF
elections.
Instead, the seats were rearranged in alphabetical order and since
there is no State with Q, this brought both Ameachi and Jang to sit
beside each other, probably the first time they were sitting so close
to each other since the NGF face off.
so when governor Rotimi Amaechi came into the council Chambers and
headed for where he thought his seat would be, he was politely
informed by the protocol officers that his seat was the one marked
with R, representing Rivers state. It was at thatmoment that it dawned
on him and other governors present who his neighbour was going to be.
Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu who is also the chairman of Northern
Nigeria Governors' Forum, voiced out the anxiety that had dominated
the hall when he told Amaechi: "So you are going to sit with Jang.
This is very nice oh. Somebody is trying to be diplomatic here."
To this Amaechi replied : "We are still together. So, I am going to
sit with him. The real chairman and the… (laughter).
The arrival of governor Jang created a frenzy amongst supporters of
governor Amaechi who apparently wanted to take advantage of the
presence of the media to send a message from the seat of power which
is widely perceived to be the real power behind Jang.
The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshimole whose theatrical abilities may
have been honed by several years of his experience in the labour
movement led other governors to where Jonah Jang was seated and
pointed to Amaechi, saying "that is my chairman!". He added for
dramatic effect still looking at Jang "you are the leader of the other
PDP extended faction", drawing laughter from those present in the
Chambers hall. By this, Amaechi drew blood too, to even the scores
against Jang and the presidency after the incident of the previous
night
For governor Oshiomhole and his colleagues, though the comment was
supposed to be a joke to lighten the mood at the council chambers, the
moment may have presented a sobering moment for governor Jang who wore
a bland face for most of the encounter. This drama is bound to be
repeated again and again for as long as the crisis in the Nigerian
Governors' Forum remains unresolved
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