Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi has explained the reasons for his defection alongside some other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC), denying that his much-documented feud with President Goodluck is anything personal.
Speaking with journalists at the Port Harcourt International Airport on his return from Abuja, Governor Rotimi Amaechi said joining APC was inevitable after the meeting with the merger party’s arrowheads, Muhammadu Buhari, Bola Tinubu and Bisi Akande.
“The governors met on Monday and decided that we must meet with the APC leadership; and when we met with the APC leadership, it was important we took a position and the position we took is for the good of our democracy and [to] ensure that Nigeria moves forward”, Amaechi said.
“We can’t continue the way we are, where we are. The picture painted by the PDP was as if we were begging to come back to PDP and issues were not being looked into. Issues were not being resolved and it’s important that we resolve it one way or the other. I think that what has happened is that what was then new PDP decided that it’s important to move into APC and position ourselves for the next election”.
He assured that before reaching the decision, he had considered the general interests of Rivers people, noting that he was not elected to lead Nigeria but to lead Rivers State.
“I had looked at the interests of Rivers people and had seen that these interests were not protected in PDP. I have seen the fact that we are losing our oil wells in Etche, in the Kalabari areas and that the more they continue to pilfer these oil wells, the more we will continue to lose our wealth,” Amaechi continued.
“The president and I have no personal quarrel; it’s important we put that in perspective. All the issues were issues that affect Rivers people; they were issues that affect Nigerians, and I am Nigerian. I have to address those issues. He is my President and I respect him. I respect his office, respect him as a person, respect the fact that he’s older; but then, as elected Governor of Rivers State, I have the responsibility to lead Rivers State.
“If you look at what is going on, the Federal Government is not able to fund the states anymore. They say oil theft but oil theft is not enough reason for which we cannot fund ourselves”.
Speaking on other matters relating to the state, he revealed plans to commission about 300 primary schools, 70 health centres to add to the 60 already commissioned, the Kelsey Harrison Hospital at Emenike Street, and another hospital inside Rivers State University of Science and Technology campus.
He said the state government has a partnership with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for which N960m has been paid for the Mother-and-Child Hospital, while NDDC is expected to foot N900m to make it N1.8bn for the hospital. He further spoke on ongoing construction works at the stadium, which “is about to be completed”.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convened a press conference where it accused Amaechi of funding his vice-presidential ambition with state funds, and slammed his defection to APC.
Speaking at the conference, State Secretary of the party, Chief (Hon.) Ibibia O Walter JP said: “It is with pleasure that I meet with you once again to rob minds on the political developments in our dear state. Not long ago, while bemoaning the orchestrated plots to throw the state chapter of our party, the PDP, into crisis by those we describe as inside outsiders lead by Gov. Chibuike Ameachi who had long been suspended along with some of his cohorts, we told you that it will not be long before they openly admit what they have been doing in secret even, though denying all this while. You will agree with us that the leadership of the PDP in Rivers State have been vindicated.
“You were also informed of how Gov. Amaechi was using the resources of Rivers State to lubricate his vice presidential ambition, which informed his stiff opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan and everything Mr. President stood for.
“The plan has always been to dent the image of the president before the Nigerian public, despite the fact that both of them come from the same geopolitical zone, in fact, from the sister states of Rivers and Bayelsa; and above all, President Jonathan has done well and Amaechi cannot possibly vie for the office of the president and that of the vice president simultaneously. This is the crux of the matter.
“To ensure he does not lose in his self-inflicted war, he has been shuttling the length and breadth of this country, mobilising and fraternising with every perceivable or conceivable opposition against the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Those of us in the state whom he cannot induce with the personalised resources of the state, even though he has labelled us as people in penury and abject poverty desirous of sharing the resources of the state, we can state without equivocation that we are steadfast without winking or blinking, as we have become immune to his usual cheap blackmail.
“You are all witnesses of the number of groups, from across the country and even abroad invited to the state by Gov. Amaechi under the pretext of solidarity visits and the amount of resources spent on hosting and transporting such groups, even in the face of the hunger, deprivation, unemployment etc that is visible among our people, in spite of the huge allocations accruing to the state from the Federation account”.
According to Ibibia, it is now clear to all doubting Thomases that PDP was not just crying wolf, as there is no smoke without fire. He recalled that, first, it was a group of northern governors led by Gov. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State, closely followed by Prof. Wole Soyinka and his team, and thereafter, the APC chieftains, all of which amounts to a waste of resources and detrimental to the economic well being of the state.
“Even in the face of all this, Gov. Amaechi never admitted that he had anything to do with any party other than the PDP. However, just yesterday, being Tuesday November 26, 2013 in his usual meetings with the G7 governors at the Kano State Liaison office, Abuja, Amaechi officially declared his defection to the APC.
“To us, this does not come as a shock, as it only confirmed our earlier position that Amaechi only hung around to ensure that the PDP was destroyed before he leaves. His inability to achieve that feat is testament to the truism that providence is always with the just and the fair. His eventual exit from our party will leave us more united, purposeful, focused and stronger.
“All this while, Amaechi and his allies have constituted a cog in our wheel of progress. We give God the Glory; we have just been librated. Subsequently, we will intimate you of our thanksgiving service for the exit of a malignant cancer in the body polity of PDP: Amaechi. A committee to that effect will be inaugurated shortly. We wish Gov. Amaech and his co-travellers well”.
He also used the opportunity to reassure teeming supporters that PDP in the state is still on track and will fare better without Amaechi. He urged their members to
remain firm, committed and faithful to the growth and success of the party and support for President Goodluck Jonathan while resisting any attempt to bribe them into accompanying Amaechi to the APC in the guise of SURE-P empowerment programme in the state, as SURE-P is their usual bait and decoy.
“The party will not fail to wield the big stick against any member found indulging in anti-party activities, as we remain resolute in our support for President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria and the leader our great party, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan”, he added, enjoining “all the good people of Rivers State to shun any act or ploy to hoodwink them into believing that Amaechi has anything to offer”.