How Jonathan’s Advisers Failed Him Over Amaechi, Others’ Defection From PDP – Ben Murray-Bruce

Former Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has blamed what he described as poor advice given to former President Goodluck Jonathan for the political crisis that led to the defection of then Governor Rotimi Amaechi and five of this colleagues from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking at an event in a video shared on the X account Jahmal of Port Harcourt (@big_Sinudo), Murray-Bruce recalled that Jonathan’s aides dismissed concerns over the growing discontent among key governors despite repeated warnings that they were on the verge of leaving the party.

According to him, one of the advisers told him, “If he wants to go, let him go,” in reference to Amaechi and the group of governors.

He said he was shocked by what he described as the incompetence and indifference of some presidential aides, arguing that they failed to appreciate the political consequences of losing influential governors.

“As I sit here and think about my experience with people who were so incompetent and unconcerned about the people they served, giving silly advice to the Commander-in-Chief, I am amazed. I can’t get over it,” he said.

Murray-Bruce recounted that Amaechi had called him to warn that he and other governors were almost gone from the PDP and informed him about a planned meeting aimed at resolving the crisis.

He said he subsequently met with a senior official close to the President to discuss the planned meeting, only to discover that the official had forgotten about it.

“I asked, ‘What is the plan for this meeting with the five governors?’ He said, ‘Who really cares about the meeting?’ I called Governor Amaechi immediately. I then asked where the President was and was told he was in Australia,” he recalled.

He criticised the official for failing to recognise the importance of engaging the governors, saying the aide, as a representative of the President, should have been working to resolve the dispute.

“You represent the Commander-in-Chief. Five of the most powerful governors in the country are seeking an audience with your party, and you don’t even remember the meeting is taking place,” he said.

Murray-Bruce argued that advisers to elected leaders often bear responsibility for political and policy failures because they can isolate leaders from the realities on the ground.

He, however, praised Amaechi as “a man of the people,” saying the former Rivers State governor understood public sentiment and remained connected to ordinary Nigerians.

His comments revisit the internal crisis that rocked the PDP ahead of the 2015 general election, when Amaechi and several other governors defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a move that significantly weakened the ruling party before its eventual defeat.