Gov. John Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has been elected the President of the Forum of Governors of Regions/States of Africa at the body’s election held in Saidia, Morocco.
Mr. Yinka Oyebode, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, made this known in a statement on Friday in Ado-Ekiti.
Oyebode said Mr. Oumarou Ousmanou, the Governor of Northern Region of Cameroon was elected Vice President (Central Africa); while Prof. Peter Anyang Nyongo, Governor, Kisumu County, Kenya was elected Vice President (East Africa).
He said that Mme Bouida Mbarka, President, Morrocan Council of Regions was elected Vice President (North Africa) and David Makhura, Premier, Gauteng Province, was also elected Vice President, (Southern Africa).
According to the statement, Fayemi, in his acceptance speech, described the victory as “a burden of history”.
“Leadership isn’t just a title, but an instrument that should be used to influence policies that would impact positively on the people.
“It is time Africans stopped agonizing and start organising.
“The forum will work assiduously to promote the vision of deepening decentralisation and devolution for the material benefit of African people,” Fayemi was quoted as saying.
Fayemi, who is also the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, pledged to use his office to strengthen the quest for African integration through the promotion of African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the SDGs 2030.
He thanked his colleagues in the forum for the honour, reiterating that all present must exhibit the desire to work in tandem with the Africa Union (AU) agenda.
Three other Nigerian governors in attendance at the two-day meeting were: Godwin Obaseki (Edo); Abdullahi Sule (Nassarawa) and Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano).
