The alleged move by the Presidency to remove the Rivers State
Governor Rotimi Amaechi took a dramatic turn yesterday as the first
lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has decided to take the bull by the horn
in the matter.
LEADERSHIP
Sunday gathered that the first lady’s visit to Port Harcourt was a move
to ensure that the State House of Assembly members are mobilised to
ensure Governor Amaechi’s impeachment from office.
The first lady
moved into a newly-built mansion in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State
capital. She is expected to spend 11 days in Port Harcourt. But our
sources said that the first lady has vowed not to leave the Garden City
until the governor is finally removed from office.
It was gathered
that as at yesterday night, Dame Jonathan had met with some of the
lawmakers in an alleged move to start the plot to hasten the impeachment
process, while the venue of the meeting could not be ascertained as at
press time.
The new move became necessary as the Presidency
believes that Dame Jonathan, being an indigene of the state and also
being well grounded in the politics of the state, has all it takes to
effect the governor’s removal.
The political differences between
President Jonathan and Governor Amaechi reached its crescendo when the
Presidency allegedly started mobilising against Amaechi’s bid for a
second term shot at the Nigeria
Governors Forum (NGF) chairmanship
position. The NGF’s chairmanship election led to the factional division
amongst the governors, creating a faction led by Amaechi and another
being led by Governor Jang of Plateau State.
There are allegations
that the Presidency created the Jang’s faction to break the stronghold
of Amaechi and some anti-Jonathan governors that are bent on seeing that
the President does not run for a second term.
Thereafter, the
federal government in a surprise move grounded the plane belonging to
the state government, while threatening to probe the administration of
Governor Amaechi over mismanagement of funds.
The drama continued
with the NGF’s crisis, which eventually led to the suspension of
Governor Amaechi from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It would
be recalled that the name of the governor is already being pencilled
down as a possible vice presidential candidate on a ticket that would
parade a Northerner as the presidential candidate to challenge President
Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
This move, the President sees as an
affront, as Amaechi being a South-South man, would be denying the region
of a second shot at the Presidency.
The first lady’s move,
according to sources, therefore became necessary to weed out the “Judas”
within the fold of the ruling party
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