Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors Friday boosted the ego of Rivers State governor, Siminilayi Fubara over the political crisis in the state.
Rising from their meeting in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, the Forum released a communiqué expressing their support for the governor.
The forum also expressed their stand on the forthcoming Edo governorship election.
The communiqué was read after the meeting by the Chairman of the Forum and Bauchi State governor, Alhaji Bala Mohammed.
The communiqué reads: “The PDP Governors’ Forum restates its stand with the Governor of Rivers State and will engage the NWC of our great party to revisit the congress with a view to correcting the anomaly and allowing His Excellency Governor Siminalayi Fubara to take his rightful leadership position of the party in the state”.
“With regard to the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State, we condemn the pronouncements by the President to compromise the election in favour of his Party as well as the systematic intimidation of PDP supporters by the Nigeria Police and call on the Inspector General of Police to call his men to order.”
The governors also expressed a “sigh of relief” on the way the #EndBadGovernance protests ended and the role played by the governors in restraining “hoodlums and other unscrupulous elements from hijacking the protests.”
The governors also requested the federal government to review its macro-economic and social policies. They called on the government to distinguish between revenue accruing to the federal government and that accruing to the federation in line with the constitution.
The communiqué added: “The Forum reiterates that peaceful protests are the inalienable rights of the citizens through which they vent their genuine grievances.
“The Forum commiserates with the families of those innocent souls that were lost and calls on the Federal Government to ensure fair and speedy trial of those who were arrested.
“The Forum laments that rather than undertake a review of macro-economic and social policies with a view to giving them a human face, the Federal Government has resorted to blackmail.
“We call on Mr. President to show statesmanship by restraining his officials from blame games that make the sub-nationals look bad by mentioning piecemeal interventions that cannot solve the problem. We remain unshaken in our firm resolve to stand with the suffering Nigerian masses and to take all legitimate steps to ameliorate their plight.
“The Forum notes with concern, the refusal of the Federal Government to distinguish between the Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN revenue and revenue accruing to the Federation which must be allocated in accordance with extant laws.
“We call on the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to be more transparent in obeying the law, particularly section 162 (1) (2) (3). And equally call on the Accountant General of the Federation to stop behaving like the Accountant General of the Federal Government and to exercise her role in line with the constitution.
“Therefore, we call for the separation of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and that of the Accountant General of the FGN.”
