Amaechi, Shema pick NGF poll forms

Barely 24 hours to the election of a new chairman for the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), there appears to be a crack in the camp of the group opposed to the re-election of Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema yesterday defied pressure on him to step down for Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda.

Shema yesterday collected the nomination form to challenge Amaechi for the NGF chair. Amaechi also picked the nomination form.

Yuguda, who is yet to submit his nomination form, spent a greater part of Wednesday consulting on why he should emerge as a consensus candidate.

Many governors yesterday relocated to Abuja for last-minute consultations.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that some members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday invited Shema to a meeting in Asokoro District to persuade him to step down for Yuguda.

It was gathered that the BoT members tried to make Shema to realise that the presidency is now disposed to Yuguda as a neutral candidate.

Although Shema did not make any commitment, he decided to be his own man by obtaining the chairmanship election form.

A highly-placed source said: “Shema has shunned pressure to step down for Yuguda contrary to the permutations of those desperate to remove Amaechi. The politics of 2015 has also set in among Northern governors

“I think those backing Shema believe that if he wins the NGF chairmanship poll, he can be in the best position to vie for the Office of Vice-President in 2015. They have therefore advised him not to step down.

“The post Vice-President Namadi Sambo’ s politics has started and it will shape the NGF election too.”

Responding to a question, another source added: “The challenge before the forces in the presidency is how to prevail on Shema to give up his ambition fr Yuguda.

“This last-minute accord is delaying Yuguda from obtaining nomination form. If Shema remains adamant, they might ask Yuguda to forego his aspiration to lead the NGF.

“So, you can see that there is a problem in the presidency’s camp. The crack could lead to protest vote with neither Shema nor Yuguda winning the poll.”

An official of the NGF secretariat simply said: “Only governors Amaechi and Shema have obtained nomination forms. But the nomination form’s collection has not closed.”

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