The membership status of the former minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, has further split the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.
A dispute over Amaechi’s APC membership arose yesterday as the party chairman in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, has declared that the former minister and his supporters were no longer members of the party.
In a swift response, the Emeka Beke-led APC in the state, said Okocha camp does not have what it takes to push Amaechi out of the party he built.
Although Amaechi has been largely estranged from party activities since he lost the APC presidential primaries to President Bola Tinubu, the brewing dispute over his party membership arose after his scathing remarks about the Tinubu administration at a gathering of perceived opponents of the president.
Reacting to Amaechi’s criticism of Tinubu’s administration, Okocha, at a press conference in Port Harcourt yesterday said, “Let Nigerians know, particularly in Rivers State, our position on the matter. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi spoke for himself and he didn’t speak for the people of Rivers State.
“As long as I am concerned, he has long jumped the ship because all attempts to bring them to a meeting failed. Even by this outburst and vituperation coming from them, you will conclude that they have left the party.
“But whether they are in the party or not, or whether with the kind of criticism that are coming supposedly from certain quarters, certain individuals, especially when you were in a government and you had no history for having done anything for Rivers State.
“Don’t forget, there was a challenge that was thrown at him some time ago; let us know what project you have brought to Rivers State. The Minister of Transportation, Nigeria, covers the entire Nigeria but the FCT minister is localised,” he said.
Reacting to Okocha’s position, the publicity secretary of the Emeka Beke-led APC in the state, Darlington Nwauju, said Amaechi cannot be ejected from a party he built.
Upon contact by LEADERSHIP on the matter, the factional spokesman accused the Okocha camp of leveraging on generating political crises by destroying other people’s reputation in order to gain political relevance.
Replying to Okocha’s statement with a set of rhetorical questions, Nwauju said “Why is former Governor Amaechi’s name the only currency that Tony Okocha and his group can do their trade by batter with? Can Tony Okocha push Amaechi out of a political party that he laboured to build in Rivers State?” Nwauju
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