by Akan Ido

President Goodluck Jonathan has met with the Governor Jonah Jang faction of the Nigeria Governors Forum behind closed doors.

The Plateau state governor told journalists after the meeting that were at the Presidential Villa to discuss serious national issues.

Read the details of the ChannelsTV report below:

The details of the meeting were not disclosed to journalists but Mr Jang later told State House correspondents that they came to discuss with the president on national issues especially those of security.

He said, “We have met with Mr. President with me leading a team of governors from the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to congratulate Mr. President and to consult with him on very serious national issues.

“You know the security problem in the country and what we need to do in the coming two years to ensure that democracy stabilises and development continues in the country.

“Well, let me tell you there is no factionalisation in the NGF. The NGF is one and I am the chairman of the NGF.”

When the governors discovered that journalists were bent on asking more probing questions, they quickly led Mr Jang away.

After emerging from Jonathan’s office, the governors stopped at two different spots between the President’s office and the entrance to the briefing room where journalists were waiting for them.

On both instances, the governors conferred for about five minutes each.

They insisted that the short interview would hold while they were standing because some of them were in a hurry to go for Juma’at prayers.

Oshiomhole endorses Amaechi

Meanwhile, the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday said his Rivers counterpart, Chibuike Amaechi was validly elected as the NGF chairman.

In a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, Kassim Afegbua, Mr Oshiomhole said it was surprising that governors who participated in the election turned around to deny the result.

He also said it was shocking that “governors who claim to be duly elected representatives of their States could lower the bar of credibility and integrity just for the sake of dubious politics.” He debunked a media report that Governor Amaechi’s travails began when he donated N500 million to his re-election campaign, noting that the allegation was “spurious, very ridiculous and roguish.”

The statement titled ‘Governor Amaechi did not donate to Oshiomhole campaign,’ said it was not true that the Rivers State governor spent two nights in Benin before, during and after the campaign.

The statement said there was nothing wrong with Mr Amaechi attending Mr Oshiomhole’s inauguration in his capacity as the NGF chairman.

“We find it utterly misleading for anyone to deliberately raise unverifiable claims just to give the Rivers State Governor a bad name and portray the Edo State governor in bad light with respect to campaign funds and management of same. The relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 (as amended) frown on such bogus donations by either an individual or corporate body for the campaign of any individual candidate running for election.

“The beauty of democracy and credible elections is the exhibition of the spirit of sportsmanship by the loser and his party, and not this invidious show of hostility by the opposition PDP. When the Comrade Governor earlier referred to the PDP as a party of rogues, the party went for his jugular by calling him unprintable names and churning out all manners of lies and concocted tales just to make an impression. “With the recent outcome of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum election which returned Governor Amaechi as duly elected, and following the U-turn of those who participated in the exercise, the Comrade governor’s roguish description of the PDP has become instructively appropriate.

“It is better for the PDP to look for other reasons why it has wrongly taken certain actions against one of its own, than looking for convenient ways to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It is shameful that governors who claim to be duly elected representatives of their States could lower the bar of credibility and integrity just for the sake of dubious politics.”