Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, has emerged as the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of governors elected on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) platform.
Also, the newly inaugurated governor of Kaduna State, Sen Uba Sani, emerged as the vice chairman of the forum.
Uzodinma replaced Atiku Bagudu, the former governor of Kebbi State, who left office on May 29.
Uzodinma and Sani emerged at a meeting of immediate past governors, reelected governors and newly elected governors of the party in Abuja, on Tuesday.
The Imo governor, facing re-election in November, got the nod of all the ex-governors and the new governors to serve a four-year term.
Uzodinma’s predecessor, Rochas Okorocha, headed the forum until 2019, when he left office as governor.
Sani, on his part, was sworn-in as Kaduna governor on Monday. He represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the ninth Senate, which winds down in June.
Sani’s role is a new development in the forum; hence, the governors will have to amend the memorandum of the association.
It was learnt that the decision to appoint a vice chairperson is not unconnected with the fact that Uzodinma is facing re-election in November.
The PGF has grown significantly in influence in the past couple of years and also played a major role in the emergence of President Bola Tinubu as the party’s candidate in June 2022.
The APC currently controls 19 states.
Meanwhile, a former permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Abdulkadir Mayere, has been appointed as the Director-General of the forum.
