By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state,Tuesday, described the purported election of Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun state as the new chairman of Governors forum as undemocratic.

It will be recalled that Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State announced the nomination of Governor Gbenga Daniel on Saturday as the chairman of the Governors forum in Abuja at the end of a meeting of the governors.

Speaking to pressmen at the venue of the 2010 Kuramo conference held in Lagos, Fashola said “Some members of the Governors forum have acted in an undemocratic way.The question of who leads the forum must be a democratic process.”

His words “It borders me as the single national agenda in the country today is free and fair elections. But members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have chosen to usurp and subvert the will and decision of 36 governors, only 10 of them sat down to elect a new leader.”

Fashola

“We will put it behind us but it is really burdensome that this kind of thing can happen from a party that purport towards free and fair election.” he added.

Fashola noted that the development stresses the need for internal vigilance by Nigerians on the motive of the PDP governors of the forum, however expressing optimism that the forum would move swiftly to resolve the issue.

Suswan while describing the election said that he(Daniel) was chosen due to his exemplary leadership qualities, his track record and experience as a second term governor.

He added that Daniel was the consensus of all the members of the forum and he has been mandated to coordinate the forum’s activities and ensure that it responds to national issues appropriately.