FAYEMI AS THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR NGF CHAIR. By ODUNAYO
OGUNMOLA
The election of the new Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF)
is expected to hold on May 22 in Abuja, the nation’s capital. ODUNAYO
OGUNMOLA, in this piece, examines the suitability of Ekiti State
Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, for the job.
Consequent upon the conduct of the governorship elections held in 29
states of the federation on March 9, the complexion of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum (NGF) will change in few days time.
Precisely on May 29, while some governors will be sworn to office for
second term in some states, new governors will be inaugurated in
others.
Governors who are on second term will leave their seats for new
occupants while first term governors who won re-election will remain
on their seats for a fresh four-year term.
It was in the light of this that the NGF conducted an induction
programme for governors-elect to give them an insight into what their
new office entails.
Returning governors and wives of the governors-elect were also part of
the induction course which held in Abuja.
The current NGF Chairman, Governor Abdul Azeez Yari Abubakar of
Zamfara State, is expected to leave the seat as he is among the
governors completing their second term.
This will give members of the group an opportunity to elect a new NGF
Chairman on May 22 in Abuja among themselves.
The contest for the NGF chairmanship has been narrowed down to two
prominent members of the group, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State
and Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State.
The two renowned politicians are eminently qualified for the position
given their antecedents and pedigrees in public service and political
circles.
Fayemi and el-Rufai are also believed to be very close to President
Muhammadu Buhari and are key players in the politics of the ruling
party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
But the NGF election is quite different from the election to be
decided by voters on the register of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC).
Who emerges as the NGF chair will be decided by all the 36 state
governors who are members of the prestigious club.
As the governors go to the poll on May 22 to elect a new chairman for
the body, some circumstances-both natural and man-made-have thrown up
Fayemi as the favourite for the seat.
Among all the 36 governors in Nigeria today, Fayemi is the “most
senior state chief executive” on account of when he was first sworn to
office.
Fayemi first took the oath of office on 15th October, 2010 while
el-Rufai and other governors recently elected for second term were
sworn to office on 29th May, 2015 as state chief executives for the
first time.
This ranking confers an advantage on Fayemi to emerge as the next NGF chair.
It is on record that Fayemi was one of the speakers at the induction
programme where he shared his experience with participants,
The chairmanship of the NGF is rotated between the North and the
South. The outgoing occupant, Yari, is from the North and it is widely
believed that the chair should go to the South and this also gives
Fayemi an edge.
When the APC was formed from the relics of the three legacy parties
(ANPP, ACN and CPC) in 2013, Fayemi was a leading light in the
establishment of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF).
PGF is an association of APC governors in Nigeria and it was a body
used to advance the cause of the progressives manifesto and agenda for
the betterment of the lives of the people of their states.
The group used its platform to offer better ideas on fiscal
federalism, advocacy for better revenue to the states, push for
bailout for states to meet their financial needs in the early days of
the Buhari administration, among others.
Although Fayemi was never a chairman of PGF, his roles in the
formation, sponsorship and sustenance of the body are well documented
for all to see.
Many key roles handled by Fayemi underlined his importance in the
politics of the ruling APC and as a key figure in the ruling party and
the future of the Nigerian federation.
The first was his assignment as the Chairman of the 2015 National
Convention that organized the primary election produced President
Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate of the APC.
Fayemi handled the presidential primary with gusto, panache and all
sense of responsibility with the shadow poll passing the test of
integrity as a reference point for future elections.
Another key assignment which has etched Fayemi’s name in the annals of
his party was his role as the Director of Policies in the APC
Presidential Campaign Council.
The Ekiti governor used the front row seat he occupied in the APC
Presidential Campaign Council to develop some policies which served as
manifesto for the 2015 campaigns.
Some of these policies were the ones executed during his first term as
the Ekiti State governor between 2010 and 2014 but now being
replicated at the federal level.
These include the N-Power programme for the youths which was copied
from Ekiti Youth Volunteer Corps scheme, Conditional Cash Transfer to
the aged and the vulnerable, built from the Ekiti Social Security
scheme for the aged.
During Fayemi’s first term, each of the youths captured by the
volunteer scheme was paid N10,000 but N-Power beneficiaries under the
Buhari administration receive N30,000 each.
Also in the first administration of Fayemi, each of the 20,000
indigent aged persons not open to any form of pension was paid N5,000
monthly to give them succor and means of meeting their basic needs.
The impact of the monthly stipends to the aged during Fayemi’s first
term was profound to the extent that it boosted the economy in the
grassroots as many of the beneficiaries used part of it for financial
contribution and even purchased domestic animals for rearing.
But the Conditional Cash Transfer of the APC led Federal Government
under the National Cash Transfer Programme now makes available N5,000
to the poorest of the poor and it is grassroots-based.
All these are social safety nets to take care of the poor in Nigeria,
give them a sense of belonging and reduce poverty in the society.
Fayemi, at critical points, served as an envoy of his party in the
heat of the governorship elections in neighbouring Southwest states.
Recall that Fayemi gave strategic support to his Ondo State
counterpart, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, in the run-up to the November 2016
governorship election won by his party.
Although he was at the time Minister of Mines and Steel Development,
Fayemi shifted base to Akure with his backroom staff and worked with
APC stakeholders in Ondo State to ensure victory for Akeredolu.
During the Osun State governorship cliffhanger in September last year,
Fayemi played a pivotal role in wooing the Social Democratic Party
(SDP) candidate, Otunba Iyiola Omiore to his party.
Omisore’s entry into the broom party was the game changer in Ife zone
as the APC won polling units where rerun was scheduled with added to
the total tally of Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
Fayemi also assisted in wooing former Oyo State Governor, Otunba
Adebayo Alao-Akala from the Action Democratic Party (ADP) on the eve
of the 9th March, 2019 governorship election even though the APC
eventually lost to the PDP.
Another factor that stands Fayemi out in the race for the NGF chair is
his pan-Nigeria disposition and a leader whose friendship network cut
across all geopolitical zones and party divides.
Although he is an APC member, Fayemi maintains a friendship with
governors from other political parties and this is based on his
background as a development figure and civil society activist.
It will be recalled that Fayemi, in a bid to protect the sanctity and
integrity of the NGF as a body joined others governors across party
lines to reject an attempt by the Jonathan Presidency hijack and
cripple the association in 2014.
The setting was the drama that ensued when former President Goodluck
Jonathan and the forces loyal to him were bent on stopping former
Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi from seeking a second
term as NGF chair.
During the election, Amaechi polled 19 votes to defeat former Plateau
State Governor Jonah David Jang, Jonathan’s anointed candidate, who
garnered 16 votes.
The Jonathan group claimed that Jang defeated Amaechi but the saving
grace was that the election and counting of votes was recorded by one
of the governors on his phone which showed that the latter beat the
former by 19 to 16.
The footage of the 2014 NGF election put a lie to the claim of the
Jonathan Presidency that Jang “won.”
The Ekiti helmsman is also an advocate of regional development and was
also instrumental to the establishment of Development Agenda for
Western Nigeria (DAWN).
The DAWN was established in 2012 by the state governments in the
Southwest during Fayemi’s first tenure, as the dedicated coordinating
agency to ensure the delivery of the composite development aspirations
of the region.
He had worked hard to ensure that the region spoke with one voice on
key issues of development and used the body as a launching pad to
stimulate the nation’s economic recovery.
All these show that Fayemi would be a team player, a consensus builder
and a believer in open door policy if he wins the NGF chairmanship.
Being an expert in peace building and conflict resolution places
Fayemi in prime position to use the NGF platform to promote national
unity at a critical period the nation’s unity is threatened ethnic
tension.
Fayemi’s credentials as a humane, urbane and cosmopolitan politician
make him an acceptable candidate for the NGF chairmanship and this
will give him an opportunity to reposition the body for peer review.
Ekiti has witnessed Fayemi’s Midas touch, the Southwest has felt his
impact as a champion of regional integration for development, Nigeria
stands to gain a lot having him as the next chairman of the Governors’
Forum.
.Ogunmola is the Special Assistant (Media) to Deputy Governor, Ekiti State.
