NLNG Has No Business With The Governors’ Forum To Release ₦800 Billion To It - Chidolue

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]Well, the national secretary of forum of Nigerian professionals in politics and former Texas state chairman Nigerian American public affairs, Kimichi Chidulu joins us to discuss the crisis within the progressives governors forum and its potential implications for the governing party and the nation as it prepares for the general elections. Thank you so much for being here.

[00:00:22]>> Thank you for having me.

[00:00:24]>> So, let me understand this. Your group says uh it's a calculated attempt and forces are trying to destabilize the PGF as it's known for our viewers around the world. The progressive governor's forum is the umbrella body for governors elected on the platform of the governing party in Nigeria, the APC. So your group is saying that they are calculated attempts and forces trying to destabilize that forum of governors. Who exactly are these forces?

[00:00:50]>> Fifth columnist. Thank you for having me. Like I said, you know, is fifth columnist? Uh we are kind of not just intelligent observers you know we equally hold institutional memory. Um these are our group are professionals you know technocrats that are interested in stability of a government especially uh president uh Bolametinu's government. So when we we observe we want to see once we see a trend that has been repeated before a trend that has caused problem in the past we flag it we write about it we warn against it and most of the times the leadership listens. Last year a similar thing we saw a similar trend coming up >> last year this fifth communist moving against the chief of staff to the president fei right honorable fe and we flagged it we warned we shouted we wrote we published and you know thank god the president is experienced because because such things this guy possess institutional memory and we'll see it in the we've seen it in the past >> when u former president Jonathan removed his chief of staff He never recovered from it. When President Bharis, late president Buhari's chief of staff, you know, passed out, he didn't recover from it. So, we know we have our fingers at the pulse of our political structure.

[00:02:19]Once he start beating in an arbitrary manner, we flag it. And we see this one, we've seen it before, and we are flagging it now. And we know he needs to this thing needs to be corrected. He's okay to have a an ambition. is okay for we respect all our governors. All the progressive governors, they have our utmost respect. They've been doing very well and they continue to do very well.

[00:02:40]But when we see stuff that are anonymical to the structure that they've built, the coalition, the inclusiveness that they've built over these years, once we see something that they may not have deeply thought through an action, like we say in the US, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

[00:02:58]>> Fix it. Okay. So, let me come in at this point. Uh I mean first there was the story that broke I think it was on Friday that 18 governors had removed hopea and replaced him with the enogu state governor. Of course that came hours later uh Peta and then by Monday or Tuesday there was the vote of confidence on now we're hearing of a splinter group of some sort in the progressive governor's forum. uh who wants the PGF >> Splinter Time, >> you know, >> and what exactly is the end game?

[00:03:35]>> Oh, yeah. The first of the end game, let's start from the end game. The end game is is is simple. It's easy for intelligent observers. Is the president, president Bameu, nobody, it's not necessarily targeting um distinguished senator.

[00:03:53]That's he's not the target. The target is to collapse the architecture that is going to deliver the electoral victories, you know, for the president.

[00:04:02]Once you collapse it, the the renewed hope agenda succeeding itself fails. So once you you know, it's easy. I'm an engineer. We know how to follow process.

[00:04:12]We know how to develop a a block diagram and follow it and we know where it's going. Once you see it, we we already know what the end game is. Yeah. Some like I said earlier, it's okay. You know having an ambition is is valid is a valid view to have an ambition.

[00:04:26]>> In what sense? Now let's get that clear.

[00:04:29]>> You mentioned that some people have want to replace the governor. whoever. We're not really interested in whoever wants to do that. But what we're interested in is that going into such a crucial, heavily contested re-election process that is a few months down the road, we don't have time to try change a winning team. When um Senator Hopu OMA, Governor Hopma took over, they were in 2023 him and um Governor Obasani, there were 20 APC governors.

[00:05:04]Now we have 31 55% increase you know when they took over and I mean they've shown so much loyalty and they've keyed in to the renewed hope doctrine and so have these other governors so once you change them midway into the election you already know there's going to be a lot of disaection so so when I say that we respect the governors the progressive governors which sincerely do but there are things that you want to do people need to tell tell you it's not yet time.

[00:05:34]>> Okay, great. I mean you you are an engineer like you said and you said you have your fingers on the pose. Are you also aware of the allegations that all of this is just about funds and money within the forum? Uh there are allegations of how monies were handled by the leadership and some governors. So I mean the question is if you have your fingers on the paws and you say you have seen the the trend one wonders how come you've seen the trend but you don't know who this fifth columnist are I'm guessing somewhere uh so if this is really about you know ego money control within 31 governors how is that a source of concern for Nigerians and when you say the president should intervene is that not taking away the independence of that forum of state chief executive officers that have 31 states under their control. Okay, let me start from here. The funds the allegation uh you know somebody there's a doctrine or called the wrap-up smear.

[00:06:42]If you listen to you know congresswoman um Nancy Pelosi she calls it the wrap-up smear. First you plant fictitious information in the media.

[00:06:55]Then you reinforce it by getting political people to quote it and people to cite it. Kind of giving it credence.

[00:07:03]Then you repeat it. You know people quote it. It was seen in the um XYZ news. It was seen in ABC News.

[00:07:09]>> You're saying there are no issues.

[00:07:12]>> Where where was you know they said that NLNG released 800 billion to Nigerian governors in forum.

[00:07:18]>> Yeah. You know Nigerian governor's forum is not headed by governor hope it's not headed by you know so NLNG has no relation just like saying that exom mobile NLNG is run by expatriates different expatriate company so you're saying that they release 800 billion there's no paper trail there is no CBN report there's no fact there's no bank statement you know you just didn't anything come didn't anything I mean how it is impossible it is impossible you know, just say it. You need to know the companies that make up >> NLNG. It's like, so I can bring out some I'm I'm an oil and gas veteran. I'm a veteran of the oil and gas industry. So, it's like saying that Exxon Mobile or the Nigerian Paul company and I paid $50 million for what you know, I mean, they have, you know, what you call the foreign corrupt practices act. So their their country govern their local operation with a foreign corrupt practices act. So it's not just that they are subservient to the you know our constitution here. They're equally subservient to their own constitution of their host country. So they they it's not possible. It's not is it's impossible even being investigated to start.

[00:08:36]>> What are you investigating? You said anonymous sources. Anonymous sources.

[00:08:40]There's a second to my question. Yeah.

[00:08:41]Yeah. the president um >> you're asking the president to intervene in this crisis.

[00:08:46]>> Yeah. Um why is necessary? He is the leader of the party and the father of the nation. As a leader of the party um the governors are his generals. You know when there is need for the leader to tell them you all need to sit down and talk. This is an internal issue that must be dealt with internally because he he understands that once these things are allowed to hemorrhage is going to affect this thing is to collapse his architecture. These these guys are the custodians of the renewed hope doctrine.

[00:09:19]They are the ones that are propagating it protecting it. You know they've consolidated so much there have been so much gain under the leadership of distinguished senator hope. And one wonders also if this has to do with us interest to return to the Senate. He's already picked up Senate form. Uh while his tenure as governor doesn't end until January of 20 uh 28 you know very quickly you know that's that's neither here nor there. What we know the challenge the challenge is about re-election.

[00:09:49]>> All right.

[00:09:49]>> It's not about senator hope you know is re-election.

[00:09:53]>> Okay. EKWA is the national secretary forum of Nigeria uh professionals in politics joining us tonight on news.

[00:10:01]Thank you so much.

[00:10:02]>> Thank you very much.