President Goodluck Jonathan has summoned the 36 state governors to an emergency meeting on Monday. The meeting, which is scheduled to hold at the Presidential Villa by 9 p.m., according to a source, is to deliberate on the sharing of federal allocation which was stalemated on Thursday.
Also, Sunday Mirror reliably gathered that the Plateau State Governor, David Jonah Jang, has equally called for a meeting of NGF members, prior to the meeting with the President.
A governor who pleaded anonymity told Sunday Mirror that Governor Jang at the weekend sent messages to all the governors informing them of the meeting.
"Usually, each time the President summons us to a meeting on national issue, we meet to take a definite position before meeting the President. In line with this, Governor Jang has invited us to a meeting for Monday in Abuja," the governor who belongs to the Jang faction said yesterday. But it was learnt that most of the pro-Rotimi Amaechi governors have said they will shun the meeting called by Jang.
"Governor Jang is not the recognised chairman of the NGF. So, he has no moral right to call for a meeting of governors. He only leads a faction. So, we won't attend his meeting on Monday," one of the opposition governors told Sunday Mirror. It was learnt that most of the pro-Amaechi governors will proceed straight to the Presidential Villa for the meeting.
A source said that every governor will present his position as the NGF is divided. The monthly meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC was aborted on Thursday as the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama who doubles as its Chairman failed to convince the State Commissioners for Finance on an acceptable terms for which the May 2013 allocations would be based which led to the state commissioners walking out on the minister.
The stalemate has the potential to affect most states with poor Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, as they stand the risk of not meeting their financial obligations.
Chairman of State Finance Commissioners Forum, Timothy Odaah, stated that the states boycotted the May FAAC session because of "the non-implementation of the decisions and resolutions taken in most FAAC meeting plenary sessions, especially the May 2013 resolutions which still remain inconclusive based on the fact that the arrears of February have not been paid."
Also, he said the failure of the committee to pay augmentation of April allocation in line with the resolution mutually passed at the meeting was also responsible for the walkout.
"Every month returns from the states accountant generals appear to be shabbier than the previous one. And the state governments have taken a lot of disappointment from the administration of FAAC which by intents and purposes have become templates of ineptitude," Odaah lamented.
Sunday Mirror reliably learnt that the Monday meeting with President Jonathan may likely deepen the leadership crisis rocking the NGF.
The umbrella body of the governors is polarised into factions – the Governors Rotimi Amaechi and Jonah Jang factions. To show the authenticity of its leadership, Governor Jang of Plateau State has summoned a meeting for 6 p.m. on Monday where the governors will take a position before meeting the President.
