In a statement on Saturday, the Director General of the Forum, Abdulateef Shittu, said the body of 36 governors deliberately avoids taking partisan stances on issues that could divide its members, who are drawn from different political parties.
"The Forum is an umbrella body for subnational governments. Our role is to promote unified policy positions and work with stakeholders to drive socioeconomic development," the statement read.
The NGF secretariat acknowledged receiving numerous media inquiries about its silence on the political impasse in Rivers State, but insisted that wading into such controversies would be against its guiding principles.
"Taking positions on contentious partisan issues would mean a poor sense of history — just a few years after the Forum survived a major division caused by political differences," it added.
While the Forum had previously taken strong stances on national issues like minimum wage, taxation, healthcare and education, it said its focus remained on governance, not politics.
"We call for the understanding of the public and the media," the statement said, adding that "appropriate platforms and crisis management mechanisms" were in place to resolve such disputes.
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