The meeting of the National Economic Council yesterday was overshadowed by the rivalry between factional chairmen of the Nigeria Governors Forum who met for the first time since the May 24 disputed election in which Mr. Rotimi Amaechi defeated Mr. Jonah Jang. Rivers State Governor Amaechi and his challenger Plateau State Governor Jang were forced by a new seating arrangement in the NEC meeting hall to sit close to each other, leading to a dramatic scene involving the two and their counterparts. The usual arrangement places the forum chairman’s seat beside the Vice President who chairs the council—so there was high expectation of a clash yesterday since both Amaechi and Jang were likely to claim the same seat. But the seats were re-arranged ahead of the meeting such that governors were to sit according to the alphabetical order of the names of their states. This forced Jang (Plateau) and Amaechi (Rivers) to sit beside each other. When he arrived at the venue and noticed that Jang would sit with him, Amaechi remarked: “So, we are sitting together today: the authentic chairman and the fake chairman!” Few minutes later, Jang arrived and on noticing the new seating arrangement, looked at Amaechi’s face and laughed. They then shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. The drama reached a climax at this point when Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole abruptly pulled Amaechi, held him by the shoulder to pose for a photograph and jocularly said: “This (Amaechi) is my chairman and this (pointing at Jang) is the PDP extension faction chairman.” Other governors burst into laughter as their Niger State counterpart Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu said: “This is nice o! Somebody is trying to be diplomatic here.” The drama, which ensued before Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo arrived for the meeting, came just a day after Amaechi and Jang criticised each other over the fallout of the NGF election. Amaechi had told journalists at the State House in Abuja Wednesday night that Jang and his supporters were undemocratic for refusing to recognise the forum’s election. Moments later, Jang hit back, saying he was old enough to be Amaechi’s father. Police reform funds slashed But regardless of the drama, the meeting went on and the council took decisions including slashing the initial overall cost estimate of the police reform programme from N2.8 trillion to N1.5 trillion. This followed the adoption of the recommendation of the Anambra State Governor Peter Obi-led Police Reform Interim Implementation Committee. The council also extended the reform period from five to six years to ensure government’s commitment to the transformation of the force for effective security service delivery. Briefing journalists after the council’s meeting which lasted for over six hours at the State House in Abuja, Obi said it also endorsed the recommendation for a joint funding of the revised cost of N1.5 trillion with 60 per cent coming from the three tiers of government, while the organised private sector and international development partners would contribute 40 per cent. He said the council also agreed to provide extra funding for the police with a deduction of one per cent first line charge from the revenue allocation, noting that the funds deducted would be used exclusively in the state. Obi said the deduction would take effect immediately in view of the imperative need to tackle insecurity in the country. He added that these funds would be in additional to the regular budgetary provisions for the police. “The council realised that the most negatively impacting challenge in the country today is insecurity, and we have agreed on the need to fund the police appropriately and we have agreed that one per cent be deducted as a first line charge from the allocation of the states,” he said. “The Federal Government’s component of 53 per cent will still be there. The states and local governments’ contributions will be domiciled in the state where the funds are deducted and will be managed and used exclusively to fund the police,” he said. dailytrust.ng/index.php/top-stories/58014-amaechi-jang-feud-overshadow-nec
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 06:38:01 +0000