27/05/2013
On behalf of the Government and good people of Bayelsa State, I felicitate with you on your emergence as the Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum (NGF).
Indeed, the cap fits you!
With your maturity and experience, the NGF under your leadership will see me and my other colleagues as equals and partners for the development of our nation.
I know you will lead the forum with integrity and use it as a platform to collaborate with other levels of Government in consultation with fellow Governors without necessarily being confrontational.
Never again shall the NGF be run as a parallel Government!
As Governors, we are not elected to rule the country, the responsibility to rule the whole country lies with the President, the Executive Council of the Federation and the National Assembly.
As Governors, we are provincial players, principally elected to lead our respective states.
I know with your track record of service and unflinching commitment to due process and rules of engagement, the NGF will be, as it ought to be, a peer review mechanism and not a propaganda tool used by the opposition to destabilize the polity.
And, I trust that you will not use it as a medium to blackmail and further your personal political agenda.
Nigeria’s interest should remain the centerpiece of our agenda.
With the unalloyed confidence we have reposed in you which led to your emergence as Chairman, my advise to you is to remain focused, fair and firm as you pilot the affairs of the NGF in our renewed bid to restore credibility and integrity to the forum.
Long Live the Nigerian Governors Forum!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!
Signed
Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson
Governor of Bayelsa State