The face-off between President Goodluck
Jonathan and Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, worsened on Friday,
with the presidency accusing the governor of disrespecting the
President.
Special Adviser to the President on
Political Matter, Ahmed Gulak, accused Amaechi of showing utter
disregard for the President by arriving late for Thursday’s mid-term
dinner organised by Jonathan after the event had started.
He also accused Amaechi of making refusing to cooperate with the President and making “inflammatory comments.”
Amaechi swiftly fired back, saying he had no problem with Jonathan.
At the dinner, the President’s
bodyguards prevented Amaechi from going to have a handshake with
Jonathan. The Presidency on Thursday explained that the action was
taken for “security reasons.”
Gulak, who said Amaechi had refused to
cooperate with the President, said, “An example of what I am talking
about is the mid-term dinner held on Wednesday. You are aware that
Governor Amaechi arrived well after the President was on his seat.
“That is the kind of thing we are
talking about. Does that show cooperation with the President? That was
unfair. Afterall, the programme’s commencement time was clearly stated
on the invitation sent to him.
“How can he be coming there about 30 minutes or one hour after the programme has started?”
When asked further whether the
Presidency also expected Amaechi to drop his chairmanship of the
Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Gulak said Jonathan had not interest in
whether the Rivers governor or his rival claimant, Jonah Jang of
Plateau State, was in charge of forum.
He said, “The President is not
interested in who is the chairman of the NGF, whether it is Amaechi, or
Jang. The NGF is not a constitutional organ so he is not interested in
who leads the forum.”
He stated that “there is no rift
between the President and Governor Amaechi, at least from our own end.
The President is the leader of all governors, including Amaechi. He is
a friend to even governors from opposition parties.
“President Jonathan always welcomes
what will bring peace and unity among political gladiators in the
country. People abuse him and yet he is calm and focused.
“The President is the father of the
nation. All the governors are his friends. They discuss issues that
will move the country forward. The Rivers State governor should
understand that he is a senior stakeholder.
“As a member of the same party with the
President, we expect a level of cooperation with the President. He
should refrain from making inflammatory statements.”
Reacting, Amaechi said he had utmost respect for Jonathan and his office.
Speaking through the Rivers State
Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari,
the governor would he would never disrespect Jonathan.
“Governor Amaechi holds Mr. President
in high esteem and will not at any point disrespect him; and this is
obvious. The governor has repeatedly said that he respects Mr.
President and the Office of the President of the country.
“Mr. Gulak is mischievous by his
utterances against Governor Amaechi and this clearly shows that he has
a hidden agenda known to only him.”
Meanwhile, there are indications that
governors under the aegis of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’
Forum are planning a reconciliation meeting between Jonathan and
Amaechi, to end their rift.
A PDP governor told one of our
correspondents in Abuja on Thursday that the situation had become a
source of concern, especially as Jonathan’s guards could prevent
Amaechi from greeting him.
“We are still waiting for a formal
meeting to be called. For now, all we have are chance meetings during
informal gatherings like you saw during the presidential dinner.
“The problem now is that neither the
Amaechi group nor those behind Jang are willing to shift ground on the
issue of NGF chairman.
“With both sides unwilling to make compromises, it is difficult to make any serious progress.
“What happened during the dinner that
made Amaechi and the governors backing him to leave is also a matter
that is worth looking into. That dinner provided an opportunity (for
Jonathan) to reach out but I think some overzealous aides ruined
everything.
“Some of us had expected the kind of
situation where you saw the President, the Speaker (of the Hosue of
Representatives), whom some accuse of being too close to the
opposition, and Amaechi sharing a joke, but that did not happen.”
A pro-Amaechi governor said, “The truth
is known, people voted and Amaechi won. If anybody wants
reconciliation, I think PDP should first apologise to Nigerians for
this shameful act, then we can made progress.”
A Northern governor said, “Look, we
have learnt our lessons and like one of our leaders, Gen. TY Danjuma
said recently, we are going to make less noise and act more. We have
talked too much on issues, the outcome of the Nigerian Governors Forum
is the outcome of talking less and acting more.
“If you recall, we talked and talked
about the marginalisation of the North, nothing was done. With the NGF
election, we spoke clearly and people are paying attention.”
When contacted for comments about the
progress being made by the PDPGF under Akwa Ibom State Governor,
Godswill Akpabio, to reconcile Jonathan and Amaechi, the State
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, declined comments.
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Some people may be fuelling this quagmire between the president and Amaechi, especially Amaechi's detractors at Abuja. The president should be astute enough to sift every ideas,counsels and suggestion he's being given. Because if this rift should continue, it may further discredit him as a leader. The president must not act everytime based on everything he is told.
ReplyDeletePricewill, don't u think as africans, members of same party and both being from neighbouring states this relationship should be more cordial? My being brought up in Lagos though from south-south make me disagree with u so please note that elders must be respected. Even d bible encourages our honouring ur 'father and mother' which is not limited to our biological parents. All authorities come from God and must be respected. When there is a disagreement you use diplomacy - salutation is no love! With this face-off between Rivers state governor and the president, I am sure there are more unknown cases of disrepect, not only in rivers but all over Nigeria and maybe Africa. It is sheer bad example!
DeleteIt is high time we begin to delineate between personal issues and protocols.
ReplyDeleteThe fact remains that Amaechi undermine the authority of the state i.e. the office of the presidency. This is totally unacceptable to the sovereinity of Nigeria, because no one is above the nation.
Nigeria politician should show respect and not act as if they are superior and above the nation
Amaechi again? He had it raw with former President OBJ while trying to become governor on his first term,it's now with President Jonathan; Hmmmm, trying to be President or VP should it be fire for fire?
ReplyDeleteThis issue about the rift between Ameachi & presidency is dragging their political political platform to the mud.
ReplyDeleteSee a lively city like rivers state held to a standstill, business is no longer moving as expected, politicians have divided themselves into factions, those that claim to be neutral are even perceived to be more dangerous, the whole state is in disarray.
This cold war is not giving the style of leadership which we all fought for a good standpoint for the future leaders to follow, in front of the TV 16 claiming victory over 19.
I think the president needs to sit with Ameachi as party men and iron out their differences, then he takes a sit with the Northern Governors, reach out to aggrieved political stakeholders for that is the only way to move Nigeria forward, after this process, he can get more than half of these people to his side, but all those greedy politicans that go about massaging his ego.
I think the president as the father of the Nation should look into this issue himself for the interest of establishing long lasting peace.
Mr OGJ shld learn frm OBJ on how to accord everybody his/her respect. W've clearly seen dt d first lady who is suppose to be d mother of dis nation is misleading the President. Nobody wins a war dt comes frm inside ur hose. D President shld rember Samsom,David,Solomon in d Bible n learn frm what women did to dem. D President shld recognize Amaechi as d Chairman of NGF n seek his coopertion to win his 2nd or 3rd term afterall dey come frm d same zone. D nation is washing,u can't accept smone dt lose an election n recognize him n insists dt wot ur doin is right. "DTs very bad n wrong" God help Nigeria.
ReplyDeletei dey laff oooo,....... power belongs to God, that is what one billboard in a strategic location in ph reads. that was put in place by amaechi stooges when d feud bw him and gej sprang up. ohhhh, how i wish Amaechi remembered that when he abused his own power as governor by imposing an unqualified VC in his state university, amidst pleas frm every quarter. that is causing a massive retrogression of the hitherto beautiful institution.
ReplyDeleteI love my President that I wish him to return in 2015 but my grouse is that the people I see him with are people who cannot deliver their constituencies to him during an election: Odili, Obua, Wike, Chibudum et al. These people are liars and decievers; they will loose a lot if the President and Amaechi mend fences. Please my President sit back and analyse what such a crowd would do to deliver anything to you...nothing
ReplyDeleteI love my President that I wish him to return in 2015 but my grouse is that the people I see him with are people who cannot deliver their constituencies to him during an election: Odili, Obua, Wike, Chibudum et al. These people are liars and decievers; they will loose a lot if the President and Amaechi mend fences. Please my President sit back and analyse what such a crowd would do to deliver anything to you...nothing
ReplyDelete