NGF: I won’t step down – Amaechi

The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) and Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi on Tuesday declared that he would not step down from the chairmanship position he retained during the Forum's election last months.

Following the controversies and the new faction that emerged after his victory at the poll, there had been calls in some quarters for Amaechi to step down for the sake of peace.

But Amaechi, who was at the NGF Secretariat, Abuja to reassure management and staff that the ongoing crisis in the Forum would not affect their work and salaries, told journalists that he would stick to the mandate that was freely given to him by his colleagues.

Stressing that there can never be two secretariats of NGF, he called on the Jang-led faction to bury the hatchet and come back to the fold for the interest of the country's development and the Nigerians masses.

On whether he will step down, he said: "No, No, No. That is a mandate that was freely given and I would stick to that mandate."

"The election has come and gone, like I said after the election… It was a test for democracy and democracy won at the end of the day. All we can do as democrats that were elected by the people is to uphold democracy and stand by democracy."

"I honestly do not know why the disagreement, I don't know why. I believe that my brothers and colleagues would see reason why we should stop distracting the country and get the country united to focus on development because at the end of the day it is about legacy. It is about what we would leave behind for the people," he added.