The Governor of Zamfara State, Abdullaziz Yari, has been appointed the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum.     

Governor Yari’s appointment came almost three years after leadership crisis divided the Forum.

At the late night reconciliation meeting held in Abuja on Monday, the Governor demanded an explanation from the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on accruals from the Excess Crude Account since May 2013.

The reconciliation meeting was attended by 20 governors from the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , and was presided over by Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State.

For almost three years, the governors never sat together for a meeting. They had formed two factions – the PDP Governors Forum and the Progressives Governors Forum.

The crisis began in 2013 after some of the governors rejected the outcome of an election that produced Governor Amaechi of Rivers State as the chairman of the forum.

The incident led to the division of the forum, with governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State leading a faction while Governor Amaechi led another faction.

The problem appears to have been laid to rest as the 20 governors from both factions appoint a new chairman.

However, 16 of the 36 governors, including the Governor of Plateau State, who was a factional chairman of the forum, was absent from the meeting.

Earlier in the day, the Northern Governors Forum also unanimously appointed Governor Kashim Shetima of Borno State as their chairman.

In his acceptance speech, Governor Shetima said the governors would unite to tackle the problems of insurgency and unemployment in the region.