Amaechi, Abe in cold war over 2019 guber ticket
Despite the denial by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr Davis Ikanya, that there is no crisis in the state chapter of the party, followers of political events know that all is not well within the party.
Ikanya had, in a press statement issued in Port Harcourt, said there was no crisis in the party. He, however, attributed the widely reported cold war between the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi and the senator representing Rivers East, Magnus Abe, to the party’s governorship ticket for the 2019 general elections.
Amaechi and Abe had been best of friends and had shared the same political philosophy until the recent political disagreement. Abe was a strong supporter of Amaechi, standing behind him throughout the political ordeal that eventually led to his emergence as the governor of Rivers State. In appreciation, Amaechi appointed him as Secretary to the State Government and later influenced his election into the Senate.
The minister of transportation stirred the hornet’s net when he told supporters in one of their caucus meetings that he was shopping for a marketable candidate that would fly the party’s ticket in 2019.
In the 2015 governorship election, Amaechi nominated Dr Adol Peterside for the ticket ahead of Abe, who was the party’s widely preferred candidate. The choice of Peterside nearly destroyed the party structure but for the spirit of sportsmanship and maturity displayed by Senator Abe. To secure the party’s governorship ticket, Peterside was said to have paid several visits to Abe, appealing to him to support his candidature. Abe finally settled down for the senatorial position.
Peterside, who hails from a minority riverine community of Opopo, lost the election to Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was compensated with the position of director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Amaechi allegedly touched frayed nerves in the party when he told supporters that he was considering an oil magnet, Tonye Cole, for the party’s gubernatorial ticket in 2019. While party supporters were agitated by Amaechi’s comment, another Kalabari politician and the son of a billionaire industrialist, Dumo Briggs, a lawyer, started ringing bell as Amaechi’s anointed candidate.
Analysts believe that Amaechi’s alleged choice of Briggs is to woo the support of the entire riverine communities in the state for the APC. Riverine communities control about seven local government areas of the state. There has been an unwritten agreement between the upland and riverine areas for the rotation of the governorship position of the state. When Amaechi completed his tenure in 2015, the riverine part of the state had expected to produce the next governor, but Wike, who is from the same upland Ikwerre part of the state with Amaechi changed the political narrative and became governor.
People from the riverine part of the state, especially the Kalabari, were angry about the development, but they could not do anything to reverse it. That is why Amaechi is rooting for Briggs. To actualise this plan, Dumo Lulu Briggs defected to the APC from PDP last month.
An unconfirmed report also has it that the former governor told another Kalabari politician, Tonye Princewill, who defected to the APC from his Labour Party a couple of weeks ago, to get set to fly the party’s governorship ticket in 2019.
The unfolding political events have agitated the minds of various interest groups in the party, especially the supporters of Magnus Abe, who believe that the senator is the only candidate who can give Wike a run for his money come 2019.
According to sources close to the APC, the minister’s visit to Port Harcourt last week was to restructure his political camp ahead of 2019.
But what looked like restructuring took a different dimension when the minister, at a stakeholders’ meeting he convened at the residence of a top chieftain of the party and former chairman of the state Local Government Service Commission, Nnamdi Wokekoro, sacked four chieftains of the party he felt were supporting Senator Abe for the 2019 governorship race.
A source who was at the meeting revealed that Amaechi told some stakeholders that not even pressure from the powers-that-be would make him to endorse Abe for the election on the platform of the APC.
In another meeting held at the residence of a chieftain of the APC in Etche Local Government Area, Amaechi was said to have further reiterated his stance on who would fly the party’s governorship flag in 2019.
He reportedly warned that he would suspend any party leader found supporting Senator Abe’s candidature. A source at the meeting, who did not want to be mentioned, quoted Amaechi as saying, “I remain the leader of the APC in Rivers State.
Even if the 23 local government chairmen of the party support him, that will not change anything.’’ He accused Abe of fraternising with his political enemies at the Senate.
Some of Abe’s supporters who were suspended by Amaechi are Worgu Boms, former attorneygeneral and commissioner for justice. Boms, who was the leader of the APC caucus in Port Harcourt Local Government Area, was replaced with Hon. Wokekoro.
Chief Tony Okocha, Amaechi’s former chief of staff, was removed as the party’s caucus leader in Obio Akpor Local Government Area while Chief Allwell Onyesoh was removed as the leader of the APC caucus in Etche Local Government Area. Onyesoh was replaced by Amaechi’s close associate and former member of the House of Representatives, Ogbonna Nwuke.
Another close associate of Abe, Chidi Wihioka, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ikwerre/Emohua constituency, was also removed as the leader of the APC caucus in Emohua. He was replaced by Chibuike Ikenga, who is the minister’s close confidant. Efforts to speak with Senator Abe were not successful as all his phone lines were switched off when our reporter called.
To further show that the two political gladiators’ relationship may be heading for the rocks, Senator Abe was absent in all the activities to mark Amaechi’s 52nd birthday last Saturday in Port Harcourt despite the fact that he was there throughout last week. He was also not at Gokana, his local government area, where the minister had gone to receive PDP members who defected to APC.
The cold war between Abe and Amaechi has polarised their various political camps. Some of Abe’s supporters had taken to the social media, stating their resolve to support the senator’s 2019 governorship ambition.
Chief Tony Okocha , a strong supporter of Abe who was removed as APC caucus leader in Obio Akpor said he had no regret supporting Abe for the governorship ticket. “They removed me for supporting Senator Magnus Abe. This has confirmed that the APC belongs to one man. But there’s nothing to worry about because he (Amaechi) also appointed me.
The one who appoints has powers to remove. He also removed his former attorney-general and commissioner for justice. I support Abe because I believe he has what it takes to win elections. I was not given the opportunity to defend myself. I was in Abuja when they removed me,’’ he said.
But a statement by the state chairman of the APC, Dr Davis Ikanya said, “Our attention has been drawn to all the hullabaloo and fake news and mostly misleading reports in the media, especially the social media, about a non-existent crisis due to some purported changes in the leadership of APC in Rivers State.
“We wish to state categorically that all the members of the APC in Rivers State are intact. From our ward officers to the state executive, no one has been removed or suspended from office. However, we are aware that our leader in the state, Chibuike Amaechi is making some changes in his personal political team.
He created the team and appointed its members and leaders, so he can make changes there. It is his right and prerogative to make leadership changes in his own political team.
“But we must emphasise that these changes by the minister within his personal and political team has absolutely nothing to do with the party leadership structure in all levels of the state. Contrary to speculations, no member of the party in the state is being prevented from seeking any elective office.’’
But a chieftain of the party who pleaded anonymity is worried that the present crisis may be a setback. “One cannot deny the fact that all is not well with our party. There is disenchantment here and there. The chieftains of the party are not happy about the way it is being run.
There is witch-hunt everywhere. The minister of transportation is having problems with notable members of our party,’’ he said. He said there was the need to set up a reconciliatory committee that would bring aggrieved members of the party together, warning that failure to do so would cause great harm in the state.