President Muhammadu Buhari’s closed-door meeting with governors elected on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the State House ended in deadlock, yesterday.
The meeting, which started at 2:15, ended at 3:30pm, after a storming session characterised by heated and bitter argument, while all the governors refusing to talk to State House Correspondents.All the governors approached including Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Lalong and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to speak on the outcome of the agreement reached declined to comment.
The bone of contention, according to findings, is the tenure elongation of the John Odigie-Oyegun-led National Executive Committee (NEC)) and the proposed caretaker committee to be led by former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole. Majority of the governors are in favour of tenure elongation for Oyegun.
Daily Sun investigations revealed that President Buhari had at some point during the meeting left the governors to decide on the next date the meeting would reconvene. While the Zamfara Governor and Chairman of the Governors Forum, Abdulazeez Yari, proposed April 9 and 10, El-Rufai, challenged him on why he picked those dates.
According to a source in the know, the meeting became rowdy as each camp tried to push its position through. At a point, the governors stomped out of the meeting venue.
Some of the governors emerged from the venue of the meeting wearing a frown, while others in order to douse the tensed atmosphere, held their lips, indicating they were not going to comment.
One of the governors was heard telling his colleagues: “Some people who think they are tall think they can control us, it will not work.”
Earlier, before President Buhari entered the Council Chambers for the meeting, the governors had formed a circle round the chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Okorocha of Imo State, and were seen arguing. Some were overheard saying: “What they are bringing to the table today we will not allow it to stand. This is a coup and we will not allow it to stand.”
All the APC governors were in attendance including, the governor of Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun, who joined 30 minutes after the meeting had commenced.
El-Rufai had arrived the Presidential Villa at about 10am ahead of the meeting earlier scheduled for 2pm and went straight to the president’s office.
The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, came in crutches, following an accident he had over the Easter holiday.
Governors of Plateau State, Simon Lalong and Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu had said the opening prayers before the commencement of the meeting.
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