Obaseki: NGF Commends Wike, Identifies Who To Blame For ‘Beggars Forum’ Comment

The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) has reacted to the widely-circulated comments by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, which described the powerful union of governors as now becoming a “beggars forum and a toothless dog”.

Wike had on Monday lashed out at the forum over the current travails of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, who has been disqualified by the All Progressives Congress (APC) from contesting the forthcoming governorship primary of the party in Edo State.

Obaseki, who had been at loggerheads with the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was on Friday disqualified by the party from its forthcoming delegates’ election for allegedly having a defective certificate.

His actions have since drawn speculations of a possible defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after a courtesy visit to Wike and the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, to secure the PDP ticket for his reelection as governor.

However, in a Monday statement signed by the Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, Paulinus Nsirim, Mr Wike accused the forum of complacency and failing to intervene in the crisis.

The statement was shared via official social media accounts of the governor with video clips of Wike talking tough. He faulted the disqualification of Obaseki by the APC. Meanwhile, several reporters had reported the Governor as making the comment.

Wike also accused the NGF of doing nothing during his rerun election in 2019, after informing the leadership of the NGF of the withdrawal of security aides which “exposing him to danger”, stressing that “I told them then that what they were doing was wrong. Now they have become a beggars Forum even when there are constitutional infractions.

“You can see that APC governors say that they are progressive. You can see how progressive they are when they keep quiet when a fellow sitting governor is disqualified from contesting elections,” he said.

Reacting to the attack on the forum, the spokesperson of the NGF, Abdulrazaque Bakindo blamed the comments attributed to Wike on the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, insisting that the controversial statement could not have been made by Wike.

“Governor Wike is an old member of the NGF and a strong one at that. He could not have referred to the NGF as a Beggars Forum. Blame it on the author of the release, Mr Nsirim the Information Commissioner in Rivers State who couldnt distinguish between the NGF and the Progressive Governors Forum which is the political platform of APC Govs. The NGF has six core mandate areas and politics isn’t one of them.

“The NGF is happy to state that Gov Wike is one of its strong members and has delegated his Deputy Gov to the Forum and she has never missed any meeting.

“The NGF appeals to all media advisers to seek to acquaint themselves with the different groups that their Chief Executives belong to in order to avoid making such misrepresentations that are entirely political and not governance related,” Bakindo said in a statement issued on Monday.