In continuation of its strategy to woo aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially seven of the party’s governors, top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), this morning stormed Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital to hold a meeting with Governor of the state, Chibuike Amaechi,
The team of the APC, which included Muhammadu Buhari and the party’s Interim National Chairman, Bisi Akande, was received by a crowd led by Amaechi himself.
The visit was slated for Monday but could not hold owing to security reasons, such as the plot by some people opposed to the visit to disrupt it.
Also, two of the senators from the state, as well as members of the House of Representing the state who were to travel to Port Harcourt in solidarity with the governor, had their chattered aircraft barred from flying yesterday by airport officials.
But at the meeting on Tuesday, Akande and other APC members publicly praised the virtues of embattled Amaechi, commending him for standing tall even under fire.
“Today, the unstoppable APC train, which has made important stops in Kano, Jigawa and Adamawa, has arrived in Rivers State,” Akande said.
“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.”
Continuing, Akande noted that his party believes that the system of government that operated in the country does not make provision for an imperial Presidency, who can neither be criticised 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?”
Akande noted that Governor Amaechi has been enduring the troubles and other indignities emanating from the Presidency 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,” he added, noting that due to Amaechi’s courage, Nigeria’s democracy has become stronger, and the country is better.
“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,
“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!”
The governor was yet to react to the open invitation to join the APC as at the time of this report, but Huhuonline.com can report that the event is still ongoing.
