Amaechi’s expulsion: PDP overheating polity, instigating anarchy – ACN

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the PDP of being
unrelenting in its determination to overheat the polity and set the
country on fire, if that will satisfy one man's personal ambition to
hold on to power.
In a statement issued in Lagos ,Sunday,by its National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it was left with no
choice than to reach that conclusion after a faction of Rivers PDP
reportedly loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan expelled the state
Governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, at a time all people of goodwill were
calling for a resolution of the lingering crisis.
It warned that the overzealous ruling party's sole interest is power,
without caring about the responsibility that goes with it, hence it
must be checked through all constitutional means before it plunges the
country into unmitigated chaos.
ACN said while whatever transpired within the PDP is not its business,
its (ACN's) concerns stem from the dangerous impact that the Rivers
crisiscan have on the polity, especially its implication for the
country's fledgling democracy, to which most of the rabble-rousers in
the ongoing crisis contributed nothing.
"Because of the danger their actions pose for our polity, we are
concerned that these trouble-makers are hell bent on annihilating Gov.
Amaechi. Those who have accused us of crying more than the bereaved do
not get it. We are indeed the bereaved once anything happens that can
torpedo ourdemocracy and destroy our country. This is why we will also
be unrelentingin calling on all Nigerians to call the puppets and
puppeteers in Rivers to order.
"Needless to say, in the words of the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka: The
mandies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny," the party
said.
with a Mobile Police Officer at the Rivers State House of Assembly
during the Crisis that Rocked the House. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke
It said the reason that Gov. Amaechi has been targeted by his
all-powerful enemies, who have used national institutions – including
the police – against him, are his strenuous defence of the Nigerian
Governors' Forum (NGF), which he chairs; His battle for hisstate and
its people over their oil well dispute with Bayelsa, which is in
furtherance of his efforts to live up to his oath of office and
constitutional responsibility, and his audacity in rejecting
dictations from an unelected self-important personality on how he
governs his state.
"It is no longer news that Gov. Amaechi, as the Chair of the NGF,
exercised his mandate with dignity by fighting for true federalism,
especially as it relates to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). In the
process, he ruffled some feathers. But those who are irked by his
efforts should have known better than to stake the credibility of
their high office on stopping, at all costs, Amaechi's re-election.
"They also forget that state Governors are elected just like the
President, thatthey are not subordinate to anyone and that nowhere in
the constitution isit said that Governors must report to the President
or agree with everything he proposes
"As for the allegation that the Rivers Governor failed to heed the
instructions from high (though unelected) quarters that he MUST halt
the demolition in Okrika, we leave Nigerians to judge whether
somebodyoccupying a post that is unknown to the constitution can
override one who is a creation of the constitution….regarding that
person's constitutional mandate. We leave it forNigerians to determine
whether a state Governor, who is the Chief Security Officer of his
state, should have no say over the security of the state, just because
an overbearing 'political' Police Commissioner has assumed
extra-powers at the behest of his puppeteers!" ACN said.
The party again appealed to all people of goodwill not to keep silent
while naked power is unleashed in Rivers state, warning that if the
crisis spirals out of control, the entire country will be the victim.
"For us, this is not about politics. It is about the rule of law and
the survival of our nation," it said.