Governors run Nigeria, President “just one person in Abuja”: Ex-President Jonathan

“So if the governors of the states meet and dialogue, interrogate things that are good for this country, then we will move forward.” Former President Goodluck Jonathan has charged governor’s of the 36 states of the country to engage one another more via dialogue instead of bickering. Mr Jonathan, who addressed journalists in Benin on Sunday, advised Nigeria Governors Forum to deploy its platform to discuss and resolve issues affecting Nigeria. The former president stressed that the coming together of all the governors in a round table to discuss and proffer solutions to issues affecting Nigeria would help the president who is more or less like a sitting duck in Abuja, relying on briefings from across the states. “Governors themselves should continue to meet, I don’t really love a situation where the northern governors will meet then the southern governors will cry foul. “Then the southern governors will meet then the northern governors will cry foul, that will not help our country. “The governors through the governors forum should meet, they are the people who run this country, the president is just one person in Abuja. “The states, especially in a country where the local governments are very weak, it’s the states that people fall back to. “So if the governors of the states meet and dialogue, interrogate things that are good for this country, then we will move forward. “I don’t really enjoy the antagonism between governors, they should come together and discuss. “If there are issues that are affecting one or two states, I think the governors should see how they can collectively come with a way to address those issues,” he added. (NAN)