Gemade: NGF Becoming Another Tier of Government

Chief Barnabas Gemade

By Vincent Obia and Omololu Ogunmade

Amid the controversy over last Sunday’s emergence of a splinter group within the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, former National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Barnabas Gemade, has said that the split was necessary to clip the governor’s wings. Gemade justified the formation of the PDP Governors’ Forum, headed by Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio, in an interview with THISDAY, and said NGF was becoming an uncontrollable fourth tier of government that posed a danger to the country’s democracy.

He said governors from the opposition parties should also be encouraged to form their own blocs to complement the national governors’ body.

Gemade, who is the senator for Benue North East senatorial district, said, “Having the governors’ forum as one body in a country is in fact more of what is capable of developing some anomalies because you are now more or less creating something like the fourth tier of government. If you don’t want separate fora, maybe you are attempting to create the fourth arm of government. The arms of government that we know are the executive, legislature and the judiciary.

“Now, when governors of all the states of the federation form one forum, take decisions on governmental issues, then you have to reckon with that fourth arm of government because they can beat you on any issue.

“So, the creation of PDP Governors’ Forum is an issue that ought to have happened long time ago for stability, just as the other parties ought also to have had their own governors’ forum, just to bring stability.

“But here, we allowed a national governors’ forum to develop and gradually and gradually became extremely powerful.”
Gemade told anecdotes about the existence of different bodies for state governors in the United States.

“If you go to the United States, you know that there is the Democratic Governors’ Forum. There is the Republican Governors’ Forum. As the national chairman of PDP, I attended both governors’ fora in the United States when I attended their conventions. One was in Los Angeles and the other in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania where the two conventions were held separately.

“It is not out of place for governors of different parties to have forums in which they will share ideas on issues.”

The former PDP chairman expressed delight at the formation of the opposition All Progressives Congress, whose promoters are currently trying to register as a political party. He prayed for the success of the group, saying a strong opposition would strengthen the democracy and make for more effective and responsible leadership in the country.

According to him, “When you have a strong ruling party and a strong opposition party, then everybody sits up and that is what is expected. My take on this issue is that the arrival of APC is very good for Nigeria because it will make the ruling party sit up, it will make the opposition to be responsive to their responsibilities.”

Gemade said, “My payer for APC is not to fall apart, but that they would be in unity so that we can have a strong opposition.”