‘Why PDP senators staged a walkout over Amaechi’

Achieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi Aliyu, has given insight into the reason why the party’s senators walked out of the Senate in protest against the confirmation of former governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State as minister designate.

The party chieftain, popularly known as AA Aliyu, said the PDP was still pained by the defection of the former governor to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013.

He said with his confirmation, Senate President Bukola Saraki had proved his critics wrong, stressing that the Senate president has shown that he places national interest above any other interest.

He said: “The screening of former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi and his subsequent confirmation has clearly shown that the era of impunity in over.

“There is no doubt that the case against Amaechi is politically motivated. He is not guilty of any act of corruption or wrongdoing. His offence stems from the fact that he decamped from the PDP ahead of the 2015 general elections for lack of internal democracy and any clear agenda for the development of the country.

“Therefore, the decision of the PDP senators to walk out from the session, where Amaechi was confirmed as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was an indication that Amaechi offended the PDP and not the nation.”

He added, “Amaechi’s case is not different from other PDP members who also defected to the APC for the same reason. A similar case was that of a former deputy governor of Niger State, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Ibeto, who left the PDP for the APC and worked very hard, using his resources and time to deliver Niger State for the APC.

“So, Amaechi like the APC National Leader, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, are real heroes of the Nigerian democracy. While Amaechi was the Director General of APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, Tinubu ensured that the states in the SouthWest geo-political zone worked for the APC in the last general elections. Both Tinubu and Amaechi were persecuted by the PDP before the APC won the last general elections, becoming the key figures in the governing party in Nigeria.”