Bola Tinubu, General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd and the
National Chairman of the APC Chief Bisi Akande,
yesterday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, urged Governor
Chibuike Amaechi to come over to the APC.
Describing Governor Amaechi as a very courageous politician,
Tinubu said the APC was the party for people like the
governor.
As the recruitment train of the All Progressives Congress,
APC, moved to Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital yesterday,
Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, one of the seven
opposition governors amused his numerous supporters as he
promised to consult with President Goodluck Jonathan and
other stakeholders in the political sector before deciding on
whether he would remain in the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, or cross over to the All Progressive Congress, APC.
The governor who spoke at a rally organised to receive the
national leadership of the APC in Government House; Port
Harcourt, yesterday, said he was a special person among the
seven governors that floated the new Peoples Democratic
Party. Unlike others according to him, he hails from the same
South-South zone with President Goodluck Jonathan.
I'm special among G7 govs - Amaechi
"I am peculiar in the group of the seven governors. The
President comes from our zone. I will consult our leaders, the
President; I will consult you, (referring to the mammoth
crowd). I will consult all consultables.
I will come back to you. The day we shall take a decision it
will be at the new stadium that can take 40,000 persons. If we
are staying (referring to the PDP), we shall call the President to
the stadium to address us, but if we are going we shall call
Tinubu and Buhari to come and address us, " he said.
The governor who took on his political foes said the political
crisis in the state was largely due to his refusal to abuse public
funds, stressing that he was not a corrupt governor. "They don't
accuse me of being corrupt. They only say I don't run an
inclusive government which is Chop I chop", he said.
Continuing, he said he would continue to pray to the Almighty
God to protect the state from those he accused of plotting to
plunder its resources.
Governor Amaechi, who laced his speech with some gospel
songs said the Almighty God had always put his opponents to
shame, adding that it was part of the reasons why he danced
joyously at the funeral of the foster mother of the first lady
which held in Okrika, Rivers State recently.
"I was told I would be stoned at Okrika if I come there. I went
there, I raised my right hand and there was applause, I raised
the left, it was the same. I said God, I thank you. Those on the
other side are corrupt. We shall reply them one after the other.
They have served and now are hungry."
Continuing, the governor described some of his political foes
as "desperate and hungry politicians" even as he assured that he
would continue to deliver on the dividends of democracy to the
state.
Dismissing fears that he would be removed as governor
through a court verdict on November 11, the governor also
gave a brief account of how his administration had been
spending public funds. "You have been hearing we will remove
him since 2007. Have I been removed?
They talk as if they own God. They said we will be removed
on the 11th which is Monday. Come on that day, I will dance
here". Amaechi then burst into a gospel song again which said,
"there is nobody greater than God, there is no one greater than
Jehovah Lord Divine".
He said his administration was constructing roads, building
health centres and schools, adding that he had also commenced
an empowerment scheme for youths in various wards in the
state.
Governor Amaechi further called on the people to resist acts of
impunity on the part of the Police command in the state.
"I came down to march with you when I heard that they locked
the gate at the airport against you. We walked five kilometres
to the airport. We forced the gate open and I walked with you.
We must prepare ourselves from now on", he said.
Come, join APC - Buhari, Tinubu, Akande
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd., and
the National Chairman of the APC Chief Bisi Akande in their
separate speeches at the event urged Governor Amaechi to
come over to the APC.
While commending the achievements of the governor so far in
the state, Tinubu said they were in Port Harcourt to invite him
to join the APC. "We did not come here to campaign but to see
and invite. Amaechi has performed well. This country can't
progress on lies."
Tinubu later moved a motion calling on the governor to cross
over to the APC and it was endorsed by the mammoth
gathering.
Representatives of the 23 local governments in the state, 26
lawmakers, led by the Speaker, Hon Otelemaba Amachree and
some members of the National Assembly took turns to pledge
their profound loyalty to the governor.
The five anti-Amaechi lawmakers in the state House of
Assembly and those against him at the National Assembly were
absent.
You are epitome of courage under fire-Akande tells
Amaechi
National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande in his speech
said: "Today, the unstoppable APC train, which has made
important stops in Kano, Jigawa and Adamawa, has arrived in
Rivers State.
"This is another important stop, because it allows us, the APC
leaders, not only to invite Chibuike Amaechi, the courageous
governor of Rivers, to join the growing APC family, but to
show our solidarity with a man who has succeeded in battling
anti-democratic forces to a standstill.
"Let us be clear. Our party has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with
Governor Amaechi since the beginning of his travails. We have
been unrelenting in our support because our party stands for
justice, fairness and unfettered freedom. We abhor dictatorship
clad in fake democratic garments.
"We believe that the system of government that we operate
does not make provision for an imperial presidency, who can
neither be criticized nor opposed. That is why we told those
who said the APC is crying more than the bereaved on the
Rivers State issue, that we are indeed the bereaved anytime the
rule of law is supplanted with the rule of the jungle; and we are
the bereaved anytime a democratically-elected President
thumbs his nose at the Nigerian Constitution. Or how else do
we explain a situation in which a duly elected Governor, who
is known to the Constitution as the Chief Security Officer of
his state, is now being made to run his state side by side with
the State Police Commissioner, who has been elevated to the
de facto Governor by the presidency?"
"How do we explain a situation in which a state governor is
being prevented from accessing his official residence by the
police who should take orders from him? Where is it done that
a state governor cannot receive visitors, including fellow state
governors, without being tear-gassed and humiliated by the
police? Or how does one justify a situation in which armed
thugs backed by the police attack lawmakers in the hallowed
chambers of the State House of Assembly?
Gov. Amaechi has been enduring these and other indignities,
without wilting under fire! His plane has been grounded under
flimsy, cooked-up excuses! They felt they have clipped his
wings, but he is soaring even higher.
What is his offence? Standing up for the defence of democracy
and the Constitution, leading his fellow Governors under the
aegis of the Nigerian Governors' Forum to reject creeping
dictatorship. But because he provided good leadership, because
he has the support of his colleagues in the NGF and because
his cause is just, he has prevailed over his adversaries, and he
stands taller than his physique.
Because he stands as a bulwark against those who wanted to
annihilate democracy and cripple governance, the plan to
extend the anarchy in Rivers State to other states of the
Federation has failed. That is why we called him an epitome of
courage.
It was Maya Angelou, the African-American author and poet,
who said courage is the most important of all the virtues,
because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue
consistently. Perhaps that was why another American poet,
Robert Frost, said that freedom lies in being bold. Thanks to
Gov. Amaechi's courage, Nigeria's democracy is stronger, and
our country is better.
We salute your courage under fire, your tenacity under an
endless assault and your commitment to unfettered freedom for
all citizens.
Since the leaking umbrella can no longer protect you from the
vagaries of harsh weather, we ask you to jump on the APC
train that will take Nigeria to the promised land!
Via: Vanguard
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