The Nigeria Governors Forum, (NGF) under the Leadership of Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State has rebuffed the first secretary, embassy of the Netherlands, Ms Anique Claessen over her comments that the outcome of the forum\u2019s elections is a cause for concern ahead of the 2015 election.<\/p>\n
According to a release by the director general of the forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, said the comment by the Dutch envoy has exposed their limited understanding of the contending issues of the polity, the politics and Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Onaiwu while reacting to concerns of the Dutch envoy also said the NGF has shown time and again, an unbelievable capacity to resolve their own differences without recourse to outside help.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cwe read with dismay the recent comments of the first secretary, embassy of the Netherlands, Ms Anique Claessen, which were widely circulated in the media, supposing that the recent internal family communication challenge of the Nigerian Governors Forum, (NGF), will affect the process and outcome of the 2015 elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a seminar by the civil society organization, CSOs, to evaluate INEC\u2019s roadmap for the future elections, jointly sponsored by the Dutch government and the Transition Monitoring Group, Ms. Claessen said that; \u201cfor example, the controversy surrounding the election of the Nigeria governors\u2019 forum chairman seemed to me very ironical. If a small group of
\n36 cannot agree on and respect the outcome of a democratic election, what are the prospects for the election involving millions?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the above submission, it is very clear that the Dutch envoy has a limited understanding of the contending issues of the polity, the politics and the people. For it is hard to conceive how a matter that is not a constitutional issue would affect 2015 elections. INEC, the body charged with conducting elections in Nigeria has not alluded in the remotest term to such a threat as Ms Claessen\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stated that the NGF is a non-governmental organization and has voluntary membership which democratically elected Nigerian governors subscribed to by themselves, bonded with a common aspiration to use the platform for peer review purposes and to share best practices in governance.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cthe NGF may seem to outsiders to be divided, but like every NGO or civil organization operating within the relevant ambit of free association as enshrined in articles of human relationships; it cannot be fully insulated from challenges common to a people drawn from different backgrounds shaped over time by experience, perspective and reality. There is therefore no gainsaying that there would be differences among them at some point.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it is, the NGF has shown time and again, an unbelievable capacity to resolve their own differences without recourse to outside help. This is where many analysts and commentators have missed it. For sure, the NGF under the present leadership of His Excellency, Dr. David Jang, Governor of Plateau state has stated that the forum will overcome this see my friction, as they have always done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe corollary to this is that observers and commentators, especially the diplomatic missions to our country, should exercise restraint in their comments and avoid skewed postulations or prophecies about our national institutions. More so, as their words also carry the weight of their office. Rather, they should try to understand all the dynamics at play in every junction of our democratic progress march and juxtapose them with other variables before airing their views.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nigeria government, represented in every tier, of which members of the NGF represent a flank, has emphasized the willingness to continue to employ every means of conflict resolution that will help to deepen our democracy project, and bring variable dividends to our people. That is why every shade of argument is being appreciated,<\/p>\n
to enable us separate positive advice from doomsday prediction, no matter the quarter that it is coming from.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nigeria Governors Forum, (NGF) under the Leadership of Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State has rebuffed the first secretary, embassy of the Netherlands, Ms Anique Claessen over her comments…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n