Amaechi Explodes! Nobody Can Intimidate Me As NGF Chair

Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has finally broke his silence over the lingering crisis in the Nigerian Governors' Forum. He vowed not to compromise on the second-term mandate given to him by a majority of governors at the Forum's election in Abuja on May 24.

Calling on all Nigerians to vote out bad leaders in 2015, Amaechi said, “We should ensure that we don’t allow what is happening now to affect the stance of Nigerians in the course of the 2015 democracy. We are mature enough to manage our own democracy and our own election process.”

Amaechi, who spoke when he visited the headquarters of the Nigeria Governors Forum located in Asokoro, Abuja, on Tuesday, said nobody can intimidate him. He said no need for him to step down since he was the elected Chairman. He was accompanied by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State.

Amaechi was reacting to a question on whether he and his opponent in the election, Governor Jonah Jang, were ready to step down for a consensus candidate in order to bring peace to the troubled Forum.

He said, “That is the mandate that was freely given and I will stick to that mandate. I think that it is up to Nigerians to know that nothing pays more than democracy.

“The right to choose who you want to choose and the governors having made their choice, we can only do one thing but stand by the choice the governors have made.

Currently, both Amaechi and Jang are laying claim to victory in the election with each having his supporters and loyalists among their colleagues.

The Peoples Democratic Party last week suspended Amaechi over alleged anti-party activities. But analysts are of the view that he was suspended by the PDP for refusing the party's directive not to recontest the NGF Chairmanship against President Goodluck Jonathan's annointed candidate.