A former Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party, NPDP, and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the South-South, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has spoken on the possibility of former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, dumping the APC.
BASIC FACTS
- A friend of former Governor of Rivers State and APC Presidential Candidate at the last primaries spoke on Amaechi leaving the APC.
- Amaechi seems to have been ignored by the APC Presidential Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
- The APC candidate have rather met with opposition PDP Governor Wike to seek for his support.
- He also made mockery of Nyesom Wike should he decide to join the APC after his dismissal of the ruling party and Buhari.
WHAT WE KNOW
An APC Chieftain, and ally of Rivers State former Governor and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi has spoken on the possibility of the former presidential aspirant of the APC leaving the party.
The APC Chieftain, Eze Chukwuemeka and who is also the former Publicity Secretary of the now rested new PDP (nPDP), spoke to the media in Port Harcourt.
The relationship amongst the APC presidential aspirants has been far from cordial after the party primaries. The aspirants who felt disappointed over the outcome of the APC primaries that took place between June 7th and 8th in Abuja, has largely been quiet.
The APC presidential candidate has rather overlooked Amaechi, a fellow presidential candidate at the APC primary, preferring to negotiate with the incumbent governor of Rivers State and estranged member of the opposition PDP over Amaechi who is a member of his own ruling APC.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State himself has been at war with the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, following his defeat at the presidential primaries and seems to have started working against the party’s chances of winning back power in 2023.
There are concerns that instead of reconciling some of the former aspirants who battled him for the party’s sole ticket, Tinubu and his camp have, for whatever reason, turned their attention to the Rivers State Governor, trying to lure him to the APC.
Speaking on the possibility of Amaechi leaving the APC, Eze, a long time ally of the former Rivers State Governor, said that everything is possible when it comes to politics.
Speaking on whether Wike would be welcomed in APC if that becomes the Governor’s next step, Eze, stated that Wike is a Nigeria and APC is a party with no discrimination and limitations to who can join.
NOTABLE QUOTE
Chief Emeka Eze while speaking to the media said, “At the moment, the fact is that Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is an APC chieftain and a key one for that matter. People continue to ask, is Amaechi considering leaving APC?
“In politics nothing is rocket science. Anything can happen in politics.
“Amaechi is not an ordinary member of APC, he is the soul of APC because without the part he played there may not have been APC as it is by today and asking if such a pillar is leaving the party or not shouldn’t be a question that should be disturbing anybody because whenever it becomes imperative for him to leave, it will be a world news event.
“Let me reveal that if it becomes imperative for Amaechi to leave, he will alert the leadership of the party and will out of respect discuss it particularly with President Muhammadu Buhari whom he considers as a father.
“At the moment, he needs rest after spending all his time to ensure that he gives his best to this nation and I am convinced that before the end of September, he will address the nation on what his next line of action will be.”
Reacting to whether the Rivers State governor may join the APC, he said, “Wike is a Nigerian and APC is a political party and there is no discrimination or limitation on who should join or not join the party.
“Seriously, I am very convinced that Wike will never join APC after castigating both the President in the most despicable manner and has threatened to destroy the party in Rivers State, but if he decides to join the party, then he can qualify for an award of most shameless political leader of our time.
“What I can understand is that Wike is using some APC leaders as tools to negotiate for relevance with the PDP Presidential flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar on what he can get if the party wins by 2023.
“Wike joining APC will have some serious consequences which I am not ready to disclose at the moment but let us get to the bridge, then we can arrange on how to cross the bridge.”
COMMENTARY
Recall that former Governor Amaechi was one of the 23 persons who contested the APC Presidential primaries last June.
9 of the 23 aspirants who bought APC’s nomination and declaration of interest forms, stepped down for Tinubu shortly before the commencement of voting at the convention.
However, Amaechi was not amongst those who stepped down for Tinubu, rather he finished behind the former Lagos State Governor.
With the APC Presidential Candidate ignoring the likes of Amaechi, while romancing the opposition Governor Wike, speculation keeps mounting on his next political move.
Internal party wrangling will definitely be an important factor in deciding how the votes will count in February 2023.
Many Nigerians will not be surprised if the two strong men of Rivers Politics swap party before the elections. This is so because with Nigerian politicians, defection is a light matter.
Wike is already at log ahead with his party and recently on Thursday, the party National Working Committee (NWC) rose from a meeting in Abuja, and failed to hid to the demand of the Rivers State governor and his group.
Governor and his group have demanded the resignation of Prof Ayu, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Rather than concede to this demand, the PDP only tried to placate the southern flank of the party with the position of the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT).
