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2013 in Review: How Governor Rotimi Amaechi became the cat with more than nine lives

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Governor Rotimi Amaechi can easily be described as a man with nine lives, going by the storms he has survived this year alone in his  political career.
Things began heating up for Amaechi in March after reports surfaced that the Rivers State Governor along with seven other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors were planning to leave the ruling party after reasons which were linked to the governors feeling “thoroughly marginalised in PDP” and losing confidence in the party’s leadership, which they said has been totally “commandeered” by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Aso Rock political apparachik.
Even though things seemed to have died down after the rumours emerged and Amaechi never confirmed the reports- fast forward to November and indeed Amaechi finally decamps from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) saying he did it to protect the  overall interest to protect Rivers people.
But before then, it took months of  threats, anarchy, embarrassments, media backlash, blacklisting and name calling from both party members and the opposition and somehow through it all, Amaechi survived, just like
the proverbial cat with nine lives, even taking out time to pull off the Skelewu dance.
Something definitely smelt fishy later in March when Amaechi was suspiciously absent from the  PDP Governors’ Forum which took place in Abuja but he had denied shunning the meeting saying he an another official engagement in London. Amaechi had immediately released a statement labelling people driving the rumours as mischief makers, he expressed his loyalty as a party man, who would always participate in PDP activities.
The governor soon released his state’s internal revenue figures totalling N9.5 billion thus sealing his position as one of the best performing governors in the country. The figures were said to be the highest recorded since 2007 in Rivers State.
However those impressive figures and any other achievements that might have been going on in Rivers State didn’t seem to impress the ruling party as new reports indicated after two failed attempts to remove the Amaechi as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the PDP governors had met in Abuja again in a third attempt to get another leader of the NGF in May. The drive to remove Amaechi had resulted in the formation of the new PDP Governors’ Forum, PDPGF, with Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio as leader.
At this time, Nigerians following the political scene became very curious as to why a man who seemed to be producing results is being attacked by his own party mates. A PDP stalwart, who spoke with reporters in Abuja said Nigerians would soon know that Amaechi was not a clean man. He said, “A plot by powerful forces, in Abuja, in collaboration with the Presidency have hatched a plot to discredit, malign and completely destroy the reputation of Amaechi in preparation and laying the foundation for security and anti-corruption agencies to move into action in Rivers State and arrest the state officials. The plot would first involve the circulation in the social media and several dubious websites and blogs of doctored documents of alleged financial infractions and ‘monumental’ corruption by Rivers State Government Officials and Amaechi.”
This, he said, would be followed by sponsored, paid articles and advertorials in the social media, national media, newspapers and magazines, loudly alleging corruption and corrupt activities by Amaechi and Rivers State Government officials and calling for their prosecution by security agencies and anti-corruption bodies. According to him, as part of the plot, security agencies and anti-corruption agencies will then move into state to arrest government officials.
Before Amaechi had time to react to the reports that the Presidency itself wanted him out of the NGF leadership seat, the governor’s plane was grounded and prevented from leaving Akure, the Ondo state capital after attending the burial of the Ekiti Deputy Governor, Olufunmilayo Olayinka. The opposition, Action Congress of Nigeria weighed in on the act described it as “a glaring case of political witch-hunt”. “First, the plane was ostensibly grounded in Akure because the pilot did not declare the flight’s manifest to the appropriate authorities. Then it was said the plane’s clearance certificate had expired, hence it was banned from flying in the Nigerian airspace. How low can a government sink just to get at a perceived enemy?ACN National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed said in a statement.
To even make it more awkward between the governor and the president, campaign flyers showing Amaechi contesting for the Vice President seat started flooding the street. Amaechi again denied masterminding the campaign. “My picture with that of Kano governor as well as Jigawa governor, Sule Lamido; will I be vice-president to both of them?” he said.
But things deteriorated quickly after then. In a report more revelations were made surrounding Amaechi’s relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan. The report read:
The relationship between the President and the governor has deteriorated in recent times with several reports saying the feud is all about 2015 politics.
There are speculations that a bloc within the Peoples Democratic Party, which is opposed to Jonathan, wants Amaechi to be the vice-presidential aspirant of a duo that will challenge Jonathan in the party’s future presidential primaries.
Amaechi had also said Jonathan was after him because he had opposed the fraud in the fuel subsidy regime, the Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Excess Crude Account.
But The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak who said Amaechi had the right to contest the highest position in the country, warned the governor to pursue his agenda without accusing Jonathan wrongly.
“Mr. President is not pursuing anybody. Mr. President is not pursuing Amaechi or any other governor; after all, they are all members of the same Peoples Democratic Party family.
“But that does not mean that things should not be properly done and agencies must be allowed to do their work.”
Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, was also on hand to defend Jonathan saying the president has more important issues on his table than going after governors.
He said,“The President is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he is not a governor and the activities of governors are not his business directly or indirectly. “He has more serious issues to contend with, delivering on the promises of his transformation agenda which is what he is doing currently.”
At this point, things were definitely not looking good for Amaechi and many felt he would definitely lose his position this time. But Amaechi, not one to be told what to and what not to do, went on to contest. Unfortunately the results were very controversial with some announcing Amaechi as winner while others identified Plateau state governor Jonah Jang  as victor.  “I told my friends that I will run for the NGF election. The chairmanship position of the NGF is the genesis of this crisis (travails). Something similar to what is happening now happened in the past, and we prayed ourselves into power,” he said. “When I’m asked a question, people expect me to tell a lie or bend it a bit; and suddenly it comes out straight. And when it comes out straight, people don’t like it.”
As if to further put pressure on him, in May, the governor came under EFCC probe for reportedly buying  a private jet for $57 million (N9 billion) which he later pointed out was $45 million (N7.1 billion) and not the figures previously reported including further accusations of corruption mounted on him. Amaechi who had said he was being victimised went on to threaten to expose corrupt leaders if they don’t back off him.
He said he was no longer going to re-contest for any political position, added that the people of the state would lose their respect for his critics when he reveals their past deeds.
“I will speak to the state, but not now. When I speak to the state, you will not respect any of these people (Abuja-based politicians from Rivers). I am now determined to open up. “I am not running for any other position that they would say ‘you must manage information so that people can trust you’.
“Nobody realises how much effort we have put in place for people to walk on the streets.
“The way these people at the federal level are desperate, they may come after my life; so when you pray, remember to pray for me to remain alive. Now, you see political witch-hunt. It is so ridiculous; my party must rise above political witch-hunt,” Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, said following his suspension from of the PDP by the National Working Committee.
When Amaechi and President Jonathan finally met face to face in June, the two hardly spoke to each other. The silent treatment was headline news the next day with the president’s office forced to react but they sited the incident as purely a security issue which should not be politicised. Following the awkward moment at the dinner, Amaechi returned home to another drama. The Presidency has advised security agencies to ensure Amaechi was investigated and prosecuted for his alleged involvement in political disorder that took place in the state House of Assembly involving House leader, Chidi Lloyd.
The BBC was the next platform Amaechi took to address the policyical crisis both in his state and in Aso Rock. There are a lot of assumptions being made here and there by different persons about what they think my ambitions are,” he told Shaun Ley.
“What you must know is that I believe in the rule of law. Let’s for the purpose of argument say an ambition exist, nobody has the right to bring down a state because an ambition exist.
Earlier this month, the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assemby,  Leyii Kwanee, was forced to come out openly and said that none of the 26 members of the State House of Assembly would succumb to any pressure to impeach Amaechi.  Kwanee explained that majority of the lawmakers were obligated to continue to support the governor till the end, adding that Amaechi’s position was aimed at protecting the future of the people of the state. On the other hand, Amaechi described the move by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to impeach him through the State House of Assembly as unnecessary and senseless.
2015 holds the true answers to what Amaechi’s ambitions are, 2014 will definitely shed more light on the hidden issue masquerading as ego problems and political air bubbles but no doubt 2013 was one of the most challenging years for Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

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