Governor
Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State said yesterday that it will be futile for him to
start supporting President Goodluck Jonathan now for re-election in 2015. This
he said was because the President has not told him yet of his plan to contest.
He said
it is also too early for him (Amaechi) or any one for that matter to start
talking now about contesting the 2015 Presidential elections.
The
interview came 24 hours after he met with the President in Abuja and on a day
the five northern governors backing him (Amaechi) also met with the President
over the crisis rocking the PDP.
But Amaechi said those accusing him of constituting a threat to
Jonathan’s re-election are missing the point because as he put it: “Has
Goodluck Jonathan told you that he wants to run? If he wants to contest, he
will call me and inform me. And then we will look at it.”
Asked by his interviewer whether there was any reason why he
might not want to support the president having come from the same geo-political
zone, Amaechi retorted: “I don’t understand what you mean by I come from the
same zone as the president and if there is any reason why I cannot support him.
I’ve told you that the President is yet to say whether he wants to run or not.”
The interviewer persisted and told the governor whether he did
not think his refusal to answer the question was responsible for his problem
with the Presidency.
Amaechi snapped back, saying: “What makes the question simple?
You want me to become a prophet and determine that the president will contest?
Assuming I say today that I will support the President and tomorrow the
President says he is not contesting. Let the President inform me that he wants
to contest. Don’t accuse the president of doing something that he is not
responsible for. If he decides to contest, he will call those that he wants to
support him. That would be the time that we will discuss the issue.”
On whether he wants to be a presidential running mate in 2015,
he retorted, “Why won’t you wait till 2015? My focus for now is how to govern
Rivers State and ensure that the people benefit from my administration.”
On whether he may defect from PDP especially now that he has
been suspended, he said, “I am not; I am in court with the PDP because I don’t
think they followed the process in taking that decision against me. I want the
court to determine whether what they did was right.”
On the allegation that he is fraternising with the opposition
“How did they know that? Have they seen me in any opposition
meeting? Because I hold different views from the leaders of the party, then
they will say I am in the opposition?”
On alleged moves by him and some northern governors to float a
party
“I don’t know. I have no idea about any group. All I know is
that there are some of us who don’t like the way things are being done. There
is the need to address these issues.”
On the specifics of their disagreement with the leadership of
the PDP
“It is all muddled up. You won’t talk about governance without
talking about the party. The party needs to look at the direction the
government is going…If we want victory at the polls, we have to correct these
things. The party is not consulting enough; it seems as if the party wants to
undermine the governors. What you see in the NGF is a deliberate attempt to
cause confusion and division among the governors.”
On whether he was suggesting that the PDP is weak
“No, I didn’t say that. Just that there are some disagreements
in the party and they are affecting the internal cohesion of the party. It is
the responsibility of the leaders of the party to address the problems.”
On how the leadership should handle the planned national
convention
“That will not solve the problem. First and foremost they
shouldn’t continue with a mini convention without arresting the situation. They
have to arrest the current situation of things in the party because if that is
not done, the problems will continue within the different camps.”
The nation
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