RIVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi appears ready for a showdown with President Goodluck E. Jonathan
as he has finally come out to accuse the president directly of turning the ruling Peoples Democratic Party into “a one man show” where “impunity and authoritarianism” have become the order of the day enroute the path to 2015.
Governor Amaechi leveled these charges in an interview he recently granted the London-based Financial Times, amid recent escalation of political tensions in the state.
In recent days, Mr. Amaechi has played host to at least two sets of governors who had visited him, either to douse tensions and show solidarity as political rivalries intensified in the state, culminating in the fracas that erupted within the chambers of the State House of Assembly in Port Harcourt last week.
The scenario in Rivers State has drawn the attention of observers and influential commentators from across the country, including the respected Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, who directly fingered Mr. Jonathan’s wife, First Lady Patience Jonathan as part of the problem. Mr. Soyinka’s irritation at Ms. Jonathan peaked last week as he appeared to put down the first lady in the most graphic terms.
Indeed one of the actors of the sordid drama in the Rivers House of Assembly seen on television across the country last week, a state lawmaker by the name Evans Bipi, repeatedly referred to Governor Amaechi’s alleged disrespect of the first lady, whom he referred to as his “Jesus Christ on earth,” as the sole motivation for his ire and decision to begin the process of dismantling Amaechi’s influence as governor of Rivers State.
It was on this basis that the lawmaker, Mr. Evans Bipi, and four of his colleagues purported to impeach the speaker of the Assembly – which is impossible, given the vast minority of Bipi and his supporters in the House of Assembly.
A fight later broke out between the lawmakers in which some of them were seriously injured. At least one lawmaker had the mace of the House smashed on his head by another lawmaker who was incensed by the audacity of the 5 lawmakers purporting to convene to impeach the sitting speaker and install another lawmaker as speaker.
Mr. Bipi, who is a reported to be a close relative of Mrs. Jonathan, still goes about claiming he is the speaker.
Mr. Soyinka’s allegation of meddlesomeness on the part of the first lady apparently irked the first lady’s office to issue a statement early last week, in which it expressed its “disappointment” with the 79-year old professor, while calling for the actors in Rivers to sheathe their swords in a fight that many believe the president and his wife either are actors or instigators.
The lawmakers in Port Harcourt have not been able to sit down to their duties since last May due to security concerns, as gangs of youths that had been eradicated since Amaechi stepped-up security in Rivers State appear back to threatening the peace.
According to Mr. Amaechi, the president and first lady Patience Jonathan, who is from Rivers state, are fuelling the crisis and have instructed the police and army to withdraw some of his personal security.
“There is this fear in the presidential villa that whoever chairs the governors’ forum will influence the presidential election,” Mr Amaechi said on Tuesday. “What has happened has been engineered to the point where the president and his wife are trying to remove me from office.”
The sight of hundreds of youths – both against and for Mr Amaechi – arriving in buses to converge on the local parliament in Port Harcourt last week was seen by many as a bad omen ahead of the 2015 poll.
“We are seeing an absence of law and order that can breed anarchy,” Mr Amaechi said. “It seems those at federal government level are not interested in democracy, but impunity and authoritarianism. The president needs to check this.”
The mild-mannered Mr Jonathan, who inherited the presidency in 2010 after the death of Umaru Yar’Adua and won the 2011 poll, has not formally declared his intention to run in 2015, though it is widely assumed he will.
Reuben Abati, spokesman for the presidency, said this was “speculation”, and denied that Mr Jonathan or Patience Jonathan were in any way involved in Mr Amaechi’s travails. “This is all local Rivers politics,” he said. “It’s convenient to drag the president into this, but it is not true. All these allegations are baseless.”
Mr Jonathan’s supporters insist he has performed well, with the economy growing steadily at more than 6 per cent, and liberalisation of the power sector under way. In the delta region, there is also a feeling that he is entitled to another term, given that he is the first president from an area that underpins the country’s economy.
But Mr Jonathan’s critics say the country is drifting dangerously, with an untamed insurgency in the north, corruption unchecked and oil production dropping due to theft and legislative uncertainty.
Mr Amaechi, who has been governor since 2007, has been widely tipped to run for vice-president in 2015, on a ticket with Sule Lamido, the Jigawa state governor and a former foreign minister. Since both men are from the ruling party, they would have to challenge Mr Jonathan for the PDP nomination.
Given the importance of patronage in Nigerian politics, that would require Mr Jonathan to build a huge war chest if he wants to win the party primary and the national election.
Mr Amaechi said he had not decided on his plans for 2015. He said that efforts by some in the PDP leadership to claim that he had lost the governors’ forum vote, despite him obtaining 19 votes to his challenger’s 16, was a concerning sign ahead of the vote. “If they can accept 16 over 19, people should be worried,” he said.