May 10, (THEWILL) — President Bola Tinubu has waded into the feud within the Progressives Governors Forum, PGF, over the alleged misappropriation of over N800 billion allegedly raised by governors on the platform of the governing All Progressives Party, APC, to fund the President’s re-election campaign.
The crisis had led to the factionalisation of the Forum with Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun and several others declaring Peter Mbah, Enugu State Governor as new Chairman of the Forum.
THEWILL reports that Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, Chairman of the PGF, who acted as custodian of the funds became evasive when asked to render accounts, leading to a conflict that polarised the Forum and split it down the middle at the weekend. The development heightened tension within the party and caused its big wigs to work the phone lines for hours, trying to restore some order among the warring governors.
According to THEWILL sources, the Forum’s governors had agreed to make their own contributions to the presidential campaign through monthly deductions from their Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, share into an account controlled by Uzodinma under the Renewed Hope Ambassador, RHA, platform.
The RHA was formed to communicate the federal government’s policy reforms and achievements at the grassroots across the country ahead of the 2027 general election. Upon their agreement, Uzodinma was said to have approached and convinced the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun to authorise the monthly deductions from contributing states.
With activities for the 2027 campaign now in top gear, the governors, according to THEWILL sources, again, agreed with the president and key strategists to the creation of a separate structure from the RHA to deal specifically with his re-election. We can exclusively report that the group is called the Renewed Hope Network, RHN. The donations were then expected to be transferred to the accounts of the RHN. That was when trouble started. Uzodimma, according to our sources, told his colleagues that the money had been expended.
TINUBU WADES IN
Ordinarily, the governors would have found a way to resolve the issue were President Tinubu not away from the country. Reliable sources told THEWILL that the President who is currently in Paris as part of a three-state official visit, did not welcome the bickering and splinter of the PFG. Following extensive engagements with the arrowheads of the warring factions on Saturday – Uzodinma, Abiodun and Abdulrazaq, all is now well with the forum.
THEWILL further reports that substantial sums have been recovered from Uzodinma following the President’s swift intervention. The embattled Imo State governor is said to have rendered accounts to douse allegations of embezzlement while processes have been put in place to retrieve whatever amount he is yet to account for.
Much more surprising to the President, however, is that it was this same matter that constituted one of the main reasons he eased Edun out of the cabinet a few weeks back. THEWILL gathered the President felt Edun overstepped his bounds in making huge disbursements from the treasury without his consent.
THE CLASH OF EGOS
THEWILL reports that a festering undercurrent among some of the governors held sway and tore their pretence to unity on the Governors Forum. Chairman of the umbrella Nigeria Governors Forum, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is said to have complained about Uzodinma’s “overbearing posture,” as PGF Chairman, thereby overshadowing the larger NGF and often relegating the national body to a subordinate position. He was said to bristle at his Imo counterpart’s seeming attempt to undermine what he felt was an assignment of national scale. In addition, some other governors are said to have accused Uzodimma of failing to carry them along, claiming that he engages the president on key issues without consulting or briefing his colleagues afterwards.
This was the background to the reported Thursday rebellious meeting of some governors at the Ogun State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja where Mbah was appointed as new chairman of the PGF.
At the meeting said to have been attended by 20 governors, physically and virtually, the allegations of financial mismanagement, loss of confidence in Uzodinma’s leadership and high-handedness came up. He was said to have failed to give satisfactory accounts when confronted with details of alleged misappropriation.
REACTIONS
Reacting swiftly against what they perceived as false reports on the matter, the management of the PGF and some 18 governors who met at the weekend, said Uzodinma was being unduly maligned through a false and mischievous report and vowed that he remains chairman of the Forum.
Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum, Folorunso S. Aluko, issued a declaration, stating that Uzodimma remained the Chairman of the forum.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Progressive Governors Forum states categorically that the report is entirely false, baseless and without an iota of truth,” he said, adding, “No meeting of the Forum was held at which any such decision was taken. The PGF Secretariat has no record of and is not aware of any resolution removing the Chairman. His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodinma, CON, remains the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum.”
Rising from a closed-door meeting held at the Imo Lodge on Friday, 18 governors physically present, constituting a majority of the PGF, reaffirmed their support for Uzodimma’s leadership. The governors present at the meeting included those of Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa (Deputy Governor), Ondo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe.
Conspicuously absent were governors of the states opposed to Uzodimma. They included those of Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta (Later met privately with Uzodinma), Enugu, Kwara, Niger, Ogun, Plateau, Katsina and Zamfara. Kebbi State governor, Nasir Idris who spoke on behalf of the 18 governors refuted reports of division among PGF governors and moved the motion for the vote of confidence on Uzodinma and his Deputy Chairman, Governor, Uba Sani of Kaduna State.
“We are stronger now than at any other time. And, of course, we are all supporting the President for what he has been doing. We also want to assure everyone that the APC is united, the governors are united, the forum is united, and there is no problem at all,” he said.
OTHER ALLEGED ‘POLITICAL SINS’ OF UZODINMA
Apart from the obvious conflict within the PGF which the President has resolved, the other alleged ‘sin,’ of Uzodinma, which further infuriated his perceived enemies and attracted rather rash headlines for him last weekend is his reported Senatorial ambition, which dovetailed into the now rested controversial amendments in the Senate over its Standing Orders 2026.
Amid the expected entrant into the Senate of many political heavyweights from the rank of outgoing governors capable of contesting the leadership of the Red Chamber in 2027, the current Senate leadership reportedly instigated the change in house rules, ostensibly to protect its integrity. Uzodinma, a Senator, who represented Imo West Senatorial District (Orlu Zone) in the Senate for two terms from 2011 to 2019, is among about ten other governors aspiring to seek election into the Senate in 2027. The governor, who is yet to complete his tenure as governor of Imo State, which expires in January 2018, is said to be eying the Senate Presidency. He is said to be ready to resign his governorship to contest for the Senate. A known Tinubu ally, a two-term Senator and a fierce mobilizer, the Senate Presidency could be a walkover for him.
THE CONTROVERSIAL SENATE AMENDMENT
However, in the proposed amendment in the Senate, the Revised Order 4 stated that “Nomination of senators to serve as Presiding Officers shall be in accordance with the ranking of senators and shall be strictly adhered to. “The order of ranking is (i) Former President of the Senate, (ii) Former Deputy President of the Senate, (iii) Former Principal Officers of the Senate, (iv) Senators who had served at least one term of four years, (v) Senators who had been members of the House of Representatives, (vi) In the absence of i to v, senators elected into the Senate for the first time,” it stated.
In another proposed amendment to Order 5, the provision stated that: “Any senator shall not be eligible to contest for any principal of the Senate unless he has served as a senator for at least two consecutive terms immediately preceding nomination.” What this meant was that senators-elect who were not members of both the 9th and 10th National Assembly would not be eligible to contest for key leadership roles in the upcoming 11th Assembly. These leadership roles are President of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President. Other positions are Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip, Deputy Whip, Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip.
Currently, there are few Senators of high ranking in the Senate. They include Senator Ali Ndume, Senator Abaribe and his Abia counterpart, Orji Uzor Kalu. Apart from Kalu, who may stand a chance because of his known pro-Tinubu stand, others like Abaribe may not ‘qualify’ because he is from a minority party, Labour Party, to which he defected to recently and Ndume is feared for his independence of mind. Governors like Uzodimma who has served two consecutive terms in the Senate before becoming a governor are seen as incoming threat.
Following the ensuing heated debate in the Senate against the new rule, spearheaded by Adams Oshiomhole, and following the alleged orders of President Bola Tinubu, the Senate immediately reversed itself. Admitting that some provisions introduced under Order 2 Subsection 2 and Order 3 Subsection 1could conflict with Section 52 of the Constitution, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, rallied Senators to strike down the offensive rules.
“The Senate observes that upon further legislative and constitutional review, certain provisions introduced under Order 2 Subsection 2 and Order 3 Subsection 1 may give rise to constitutional inconsistencies and unintended tensions with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, particularly Section 52 thereof,” Bamidele said.
Enyinnaya Abaribe, the senator representing Abia South seconded the motion and Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over the session, struck the gavel to seal the ayes, who had it.
But for Oshiomhole, fairness, eligibility and leadership ethics in the Senate was almost thrown to indiscretion by the Senate leadership out to preserve their self-serving interests.
“As we speak today, the Senate president has not done eight years in office, even if you count the previous one plus the current one. So, if we pass the rule that we must do eight consecutive years before you can become Senate president, it means he must live by example by vacating because he is presiding without acquiring the necessary qualification,” Oshiomhole told journalists after the Senate showdown.
Meanwhile, the Senate denied that the President intervened to restore order over the controversial rule.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Adeniyi Adegbomire, told journalists that the decision “followed internal legislative review and concerns raised by lawmakers over constitutional implications.”
“One of the orders that was considered was about whether you should take your oath of allegiance and membership before elections. In the past, you didn’t have to be sworn in before you voted for the Senate President and Deputy Senate President, and now they said you must be sworn in first before the election,” Adegbomire said, adding that, “The issue of eligibility stays, and it is different from what we rescinded. We rescinded the order of oath-taking and eligibility to contest the election. This is for clarity.”
A top Imo government official told THEWILL anonymously on Saturday that the Imo State governor does not need to resign to contest for a Senate seat.
“Why would you be jumping the gun by talking about whether the governor would or should resign to contest for the senate. He has to contest and win. So, let us wait till that time. After all, the Senators would be inaugurated in June 2027. A day before the inauguration, he can resign and be sworn in. The governor still has one year in office to work. So, do not let us project. He still has work to do.”
Centre for Nigeria Progress 