YAR'ADUA SHOULD NOT RESIGN

Yar'Adua should not resign -Govs
From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja
Wednesday, March 3 , 2010


President Umaru Yar'Adua

State governors yesterday decided that the resignation of President Umaru Yar'Adua should not be an option in the settlement of the current leadership crisis in the country so as not to heat the polity further.

The governors, who met behind closed doors with the acting president in his residence in the Presidential Villa, Abuja last night after their meeting earlier in the day said much as they were 100 per cent behind Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, he should continue to function in office as acting president.

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State who fielded questions from State House correspondents at the end of the meeting said the governors also frowned at the utterances of some top government functionaries and called for order in a bid to calm nerves.

He summed up their decision thus: 'For us, the issue of his resignation is not an option for now. For us, what is important is to be compassionate, to be sympathetic and to realise that anybody no matter how highly placed, even if you are a Christian or you are a Pope, you can get ill. Thank God, he (Yar'Adua) is back now and he is recuperating and we are satisfied that recovery is on the way. We are praying for him.'

He said the governors took into cognizance the fact that President Yar'Adua was back in the country and was recuperating, pointing out the need to allow him recuperate fully before resuming duties.

The Chairman of the Governors' Forum and Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said the governors were satisfied with the actions of the acting president so far and congratulated him for stabilising the polity.

'We encouraged and said he is doing a good job and that he has the full support of the Governors' Forum in this exercise. We agreed to have regular consultations during this period among the forum. He also educated us on a number of issues, for example on the Presidential Advisory Council that was set up, the reason behind it and other things.

'By and large, we emphasized the need for government to work very hard to ensure that we all play our role to provide leadership at this crucial time and the need to talk to members of government to ensure that some of the comments made are well guarded,' he stated.