THE ABSURD intrigues in which the hierarchy of Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party finds itself took a
further dip in embarrassing waters on Monday, when the party’s National Working Committee announced the suspension of one of its more influential members, the embattled Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.
The suspension of Governor Amaechi, whose election as chair of the Nigeria Governors Forum on Friday is being challenged, was announced in a statement signed by the spokesperson of the party, Mr. Oliseh Metuh, who said that the suspension came after deliberations between members of the committee to ‘enforce discipline’ in the party.
Citing Articles 58 1 (b), (c ), (h) and (m) of the Peoples Democratic Party Constitution, the Committee said it suspended Amaechi for “his refusal to obey the lawful directive of the Rivers State Executive Committee to rescind his decision dissolving the elected Executive Council of Obiokpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.”
According to the signed press release by Metuh, the Committee also will refer the matter to the appropriate disciplinary committee of the party for further deliberations.
The development is the latest episode of wiles and intrigues that has rocked Nigeria’s ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party. It follows Friday’s controversy over who truly won the contest to elect a new chairman for the 36-member Nigeria Governors Forum, where Governor Rotimi Amaechi initially emerged winner.
The later announcement of a win by Plateau State’s Governor Jonah Jang by another faction of the group now has observers wondering how a group of 36 leaders who preside over the affairs of a 160 million-strong Nigeria, cannot organize a successful election free of controversy among the governors.
“It is quite frankly a disgrace,” said a Chicago-based professor of politics on Saturday, requesting for his identity to be protected for what he cited as ‘safety reasons’.
“These are dangerous times in Nigeria again and these people expect the rest of us to take them seriously? The ruling party in Nigeria is in disarray and things are only going to get worse as the battle of wits continue within their rank and file.
“The president should begin to attend to the squabbling and end it before it grows into the monster that will consume his party and his presidency.”
As the internal rivalries within the Governors Forum continues, Ekiti State’s Governor Fayemi spoke out on Sunday in favor of his Rivers State counterpart, saying it was a clean and fair contest that produced Governor Amaechi as chair of the Forum.
“We are particularly worried about the deliberate misrepresentation of events at the election in the media by some members of the Forum in the bid to justify the setting up of a parallel group, following the defeat of Governor Jonah Jang in the keenly contested chairmanship election,” Fayemi said in a statement in the state capital of Ado Ekiti.
“It is on record that all the 35 governors present voted and there is an electronic evidence of this, and Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan served as the Returning Officer in the Friday election that produced Governor Amaechi as chairman of NGF.
“Whereas the pro-Jang group had reportedly premised their position on earlier endorsement of Governor Jang’s candidature by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum and the Northern Governors Forum, it suffices to state without any fear of contradiction that endorsement of a candidate does not translate to actual votes in any election,” Fayemi added.
Targeting the general public in his statement, Governor Fayemi urged people to be on the lookout for manipulators who distort facts of events. He also asked that the media live up to its responsibilities of informing the public of the truth about events that serve “build a more enduring democracy.”