by Akan Ido

The Plateau state governor, Jonah Jang has called the integrity of his Kano state counterpart, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to question.

Jang who lost the election for the chairmanship position of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to Rotimi Amaechi said Kwankwaso’s explanation of what transpired during the election showed the “descent to which some politicians had sunk in terms of lost moral ethos.”

Read the Punch Newspapers report below:

Jang, in a statement on Thursday by the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Yiljap Abraham, said by Kwankwaso’s admission, his nomination as chairman of the NGF by the northern governors was a political game, which showed the level of “descent to which some politicians had sunk in terms of lost moral ethos.”

Kwakwanso was quoted as saying though, the northern governors nominated Jang, it was only meant as a political game, and so he did not win the election.

The statement read in part, “Governor Kwakwanso’s account of events during the Northern Governors’ Forum, which led to the adoption of Governor Jonah Jang as the candidate of the region for the chairmanship of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, has thrown a moral glitz on Nigeria’s political turf.

“His admission that he personally nominated Governor Jonah Jang and asked Governor Suswam of Benue to support his move only because ‘it was a game…’ clearly showed a mind luxuriating in unethical lyrics.

“That the Kano State Governor could walk cool out of the room wherein ‘they’ had decided to set up Benue and Plateau for a national ‘fall’ tells us a bit about why we may not capture back soon Nigeria’s political morality. That he could nominate Jang as consensus candidate and still not ‘vote’ for him showed an incredible double-speak!

Questioning Kwakwanso’s morality, the statement asked, “Where was the porch of intergrity Kwakwanso had constructed as Nigeria’s Defence Minister?

“Is this ‘game’ part of the crafted Kwankwasiyya curriculum that must be passed by those under the governor’s tutelage? Is crass deception now being introduced as part of a leader’s necessary attitudinal regalia in Nigeria’s politics? Will this form part of our national values as we trudge toward 2015, and the years beyond?”

Meanwhile, a chief of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Henry Omorodion, on Thursday, warned that the crisis in the NGF portended danger to the 2015 general elections, saying only spiritual intervention could avert the danger ahead.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Omorodion, who is the Odunanoba of Benin Kingdom, and Chairman of Hensmor Group of Companies, said spiritual solution was needed to achieve a stable polity.