NGF crisis threat to democracy, says NBA, Sagay

Some prominent lawyers on Monday in Lagos said the ongoing crisis within the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) was a threat to the nation’s democracy.

The lawyers were reacting to the dispute arising from the forum’s chairmanship election on Friday.

THE NGF broke up into two factions on Friday after the forum’s secretariat declared Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers reelected as chairman of the group by 19 votes to Governor Jonah Jang’s 16.

But a faction led by Jang and Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom disputed the result, arguing that Amaechi should have stepped down before the election took place.

The lawyers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that the crisis was capable of

derailing Nigeria’s democracy.

A constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said the action of the governors was an embarrassment and a threat to the country’s democratic experiment.

“It is shameful and embarrassing. The results were declared and we all saw it on national television.

“One would normally expect the loser to congratulate the winner but they left the venue in anger and decided to form a splinter group.

“Their actions have shown that they have contempt for democracy and the rule of law,” Sagay said.

The Chairman, NBA, Ikeja branch, Mr. Onyekachi Ubani, said the disputed election was a sad situation.

Ubani wondered why a group of only 36 persons could not conduct an acceptable election.

“The NGF, as it stands today, is already divided and it is a dangerous signal to our democracy,” Ubani said.

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