Fayemi May Succeed Yari as Chairman Govs Forum. By Demola Atobaba
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, is favoured to succeed Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, as the chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
A reliable source familiar with NGF’s
politics said Fayemi appears acceptable
to a cross section of returning governors
among whom the next chairman would be chosen.
Yari’s tenure has ended as he moves to the Senate having completed his second term as governor of Zamfara, and elected a senator to represent his home state at the upper legislative chamber.
Going for Fayemi, said the source, is the respect his colleagues have for him, given his intellectual standing,
approachable mien and wide ranging
experience, having been a minister
believed to enjoy the confidence of
President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The governors feel they need a unifying
character that enjoys the confidence of
the president, and would consequently be a bridge between the federal and the
states,” the source said.
By the zoning convention of the forum, the South-west stands a good chance of having the post allotted to it as the South-south has taken the slot twice, through former governors Attah (Akwa Ibom) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).
The election of the chairman is expected to hold in June after the inauguration of
returning and newly elected governors
who were inducted on Monday.
It could be recalled that the Ekiti State under Fayemi remains the only state in the
South-west that declared 100 per cent for the All Progressives Congress (APC)
during the last General elections.
The APC won all the seats in the Senate,
House of Representatives, State House of
Assembly as well as Victory for the Party
by a wide margin in the Presidential
election.
