Governor of Bayelsa State and Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, Seriake Dickson, has called on the 36 Governors of the Federation to adhere to the principle of rotation in the election of a new leader for the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).
The Governor, in a statement on Wednesday by his Special Adviser, Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said that the decision on who should be the next Chairman of the Forum should be guided by the time-tested principle of rotation between the North and South.
He said that the next Chairman of the NGF should come from the South with the end of the tenure of Governor Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara State.
Dickson added that the Governors elected under the platform of the PDP would not contest the position in consonance with the precedence that the NGF Chairman should be a ranking Governor from the ruling political party.
He stressed that the PDP Governors would not make any move to endanger the time-honoured principle guiding the emergence of the Chairman of the NGF.
However, the Governor noted that the next NGF Chairman should emerge preferably through consensus among the members of the NGF.
He said, “I am calling on the governors who would assemble today to take a decision on the Chairmanship òf the Governor’s Forum to be guided by the time tested principle of rotation between the North and the South.
“Now that the Alhaji Abdulazeez Yari, Governor of Zamfara State would be ending his tenure, we expect that the next chairman should come from the South.
“The precedence is that the ruling party produces the Chairman. The PDP Governors have no desire to be disruptive and expect that a ranking Governor from the APC, the party with the majority would be the next chairman.”
Dickson congratulated his Zamfara counterpart on the successful completion of his tenure during which he collaborated with the Federal Government to address a myriad of issues such as the refund of the Paris club money, and other issues affecting state finances.
The Governor wished him a successful tenure in the National Assembly where he has been elected a senator.
“I wish him the very best in the Senate, where he has been elected,” he said.
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