The Presidency last Thursday lambasted the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, over his threat that the All Progressives Congress, APC, would form a parallel government if next year’s general elections are rigged.
At the “Salvation Rally,” organised by the APC in Abuja, Mr. Amaechi, had warned that “if the 2015 elections are rigged, his party will not seek redress in court but would rather carry out what he called civil disobedience as well as form a parallel government.”
The rally was attended by leaders of the opposition party who lampooned the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government for alleged under-performance.
They also marched round some parts of the nation’s capital, including the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, said but for the immunity Mr. Amaechi enjoys ”the governor would have been in jail for his comments”.
He said the governor’s utterances bother on incitement, treason and gross rascality, which were enough to land him behind bars.
Mr. Okupe said there was no basis for Mr. Amaechi to suggest that the elections would be rigged by the PDP. He said it was a shame for the governor to denigrate himself.
The presidential aide noted that the governor’s utterances were a further proof that he was not only lawless, but loves anarchy in his unbridled pursuit for power.
“It is curious and unthinkable that a man who was himself a beneficiary of the court process would disdain the very platform through which he acquired the opportunity to make his reckless and provocative statement,” Mr. Okupe said.
“With statements like this it is clear that Amaechi is more of liability to his party than asset and has the potential to bring his party to further opprobrium and disrepute.
“For someone who aspires to become the Vice President of this country, his disdain for law and order is not only unfortunate but also patently dangerous and sends dark signals about the survival of our democracy.”
The presidential aide said discerning Nigerians knew that comments like those made by the governor, do not augur well for any democracy and “also portray Mr. Amaechi as a reckless, power hungry individual who lacks both the democratic temper and respect for constituted authority and institutions.”
He wondered how the APC could be comfortable “with a loose cannon like Governor Amaechi.”
Mr. Okupe said it was clear to any discerning mind that Mr. Amaechi’s indecorous outbursts and his obvious disregard and contempt for the rule of law, had defined him as unfit to hold any serious public office in this country let alone the Vice Presidency of Nigeria to which he aspires.
He said, “If Mr. Amaechi is so much afraid of his party crashing to defeat in the general elections, what he needs to do is to advise the leadership of his party to either give up in good time or repackage itself in order to appeal to the Nigerian voters who must definitely have the final say in the democratic process.
“We also want to sound a note of warning to Mr. Amaechi and other desperate players on our political scene that Nigeria has moved away from the dark days of dictatorship and resort to brigandage and that any attempt for any individual or group of individuals to resort to extra legal means of acquiring power, would be dealt with by the laws of the land.”
Also in a statement by its spokesperson, OlisaMetuh, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said it was shocked and stunned by Mr. Amaechi’s utterances at the rally, especially because the governor was an elected public officer.
It cautioned the governor against unduly overheating the system and urged him to concentrate on his duties in his state.
Stating that Mr. Amaechi was a democrat when he was in the PDP, the ruling party advised him not to allow the undemocratic attitude of the APC to becloud him.
“He is a different person from who he was when he was in the PDP. When he was in PDP, he was much more guarded in his statements. We urge him to desist from utterances capable of derailing our democracy”, the statement said.
The party, however restated that it would continue to resist the provocations from the opposition and remain focused in its commitment in consolidating a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Nigeria.
