Obaseki Absent As South South Governors Meet Over CJN Onnoghen

Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki was absent at the meeting of South-South governors in Abuja on Sunday, Igbere TV can authoritatively report.

Igbere TV gathered that the meeting held at the Bayelsa State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, was at the instance of Mr. Seriake Dickson, Governor of Bayelsa State, who is also Chairman of the South South Governors Forum.

Checks by Igbere TV revealed that the meeting was attended by the Governors of Cross River State, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Delta States.

Of the six governors in the South-South, Mr. Obaseki is the only one belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The remaining five governors belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party.

The governors met to discuss the fallout of the scheduled trial of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen.

The meeting, which began at exactly 4:00 p.m., was chaired by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State.

Efforts to reach the Special Adviser on Media to Governor Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, were unproductive. However, online reports has it that Osagie told newsmen “Obaseki was attending a meeting in Lagos.” Igbere TV could not immediately ascertain whether the governor sent a representative or not.

“The governors are having an emergency meeting in Abuja, but Governor Obaseki is in Lagos attending to official engagement he had preciously scheduled,” the report reads.

He said the governor did not shun the meeting because he is associated with the APC which is prosecuting the chief justice.

Despite the outrage that greeted the planned trial, the ruling party has formally backed the move, saying in a Sunday afternoon statement the Buhari administration’s fight against corruption would not tolerate sacred cows.

Mr. Onnoghen has been accused of improper declaration of assets, with the Nigerian government filing six charges that it said violated the code of conduct law for public officers.

The chief judge strongly denied all allegations against him. He is expected to be arraigned on January 14 in Abuja.

Igbere TV