No fewer than 11 governors were yesterday absent at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum meeting, which held in Abuja. In the meeting, which Akwa Ibom State governors and chairman of the Forum, Barrister Godswill Akpabio, presided over, only nine governors and three deputy governors were present.
Those in attendance are Governors Theodore Orji (Abia), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Mukhtar Ramalan Yero (Kaduna), Idris Wada (Kogi), Gabriel Suswan (Benue), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Henry Dickson (Bayelsa) and Akpabio.
The deputy governors who attended are from Plateau, Gombe and Kwara.
Among those who were absent are the five northern states governors, who had since expressed reservations over the administration of the party under the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. They are Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger).
Governors of Kebbi, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Ebonyi, Taraba and Bauchi states were also absent.
Addressing journalists at the end of the meeting, Akpabio attributed the poor attendance to a short notice, as he noted that the meeting was an emergency session.
“We sent out the notice only yesterday (Tuesday), Besides, some of our colleagues had left the country for Saudi Arabia for Umrah (the lesser hajj),” Akpabio told newsmen.
Giving an insight into the discussions of the meeting, Akpabio disclosed that the Forum resolved to cooperate with the national chairman of the party, to ensure hitch free national convention and South-West zonal congress.
He further revealed that PDP governors were disturbed over the unsavoury development in Rivers State, which led to physical combat on the floor of the state house of assembly and advised the state lawmakers to sheath their swords.
Akpabio further disclosed that the Forum resolved to rotate its subsequent meeting among its members. The next meeting of the Forum, according to him, would hold in Bayelsa State.
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