By Abubakar Sani

Governor Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa State has dismissed critics of the Governor Fayose Presidential selection committee saying opponents of the move by the governors have failed to appreciate the good intentions of the committee.

Speaking on a BBC Hausa news programme monitored in Abuja on Monday last week, Governor Adamu observed with dismay that rather than join the governors in finding a suitable presidential candidate for the party, "the critics have become jittery and are going about misrepresenting the intentions of the governors. He insisted that nobody ever said that the committee was set up to ensure that only one of them emerged as the party’s flag bearer. "What the committee is doing is to help the party find a safe and fool-proof way to nominate a presidential candidate for the presidency in 2007," governor Adamu said.

Responding to a question on the insinuation that the governors were only looking for a way to remain relevant after the failure of the third term bid, governor Adamu said, "the issue of third term is over and the party is moving forward," maintaining that the committee will welcome any member of the party who is interested and feels he or she is important in the scheme of things and willing to move the party forward.

It will be recalled that governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had set up the governor Fayose committee to select a presidential candidate for the party to contest the 2007 election, in what observers described as a response to President Olusegun Obasanjo’s directive that they search for a suitable candidate for the presidency.

Published by Nigerian Newsday, Tuesday, June 27, 2006