Plot To Sack Amaechi Thickens

The plot to remove Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi seems to be gathering more stream, following a meeting in Lagos yesterday.

Sources said that a deposed governor, a minister, a senator and other top Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders flew into Lagos by a presidential jet to strategise on the plan.

Details of the meeting were unknown, but a source said it was to explore the lagal option to get Amaechi out of office.

There is tension in Rivers State, following the Court of Appeal’s ruling that Celestine Omehia, the former All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate, could challenge the ruling of the High Court that Amaechi’s first term ended on May 29, 2011. The governor is challenging the ruling at the Supreme Court, which has fixed the hearing for November 11.

Pro-Amaehi forces have alleged plans by certain PDP leaders to remove the governor. Now, they are alleging that “certain powerful forces” want to influence the court’s decision against the governor to get rid of him politically. It has been difficult to impeach Amaechi, since the National Assembly took over the polarised and crisis-ridden Rivers State House of Assembly.

The legal option, sources said, became an attractive route to explore by the anti-Amaechi forces, who have assured the PDP leadership that the governor could be nailed at either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court.

Amaechi is challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal to join Omehia in the matter. But, another politician, Cyprian Chukwu, had initiated the substantive case to determine when the tenure of the governor began, following a time-table by the Electoral Commission in 2010 for the governorship elections in the state in August, 2011.

He argued that since the Supreme Court had in 2007 ruled that it was the PDP that won the April governorship poll that year, Amaechi’s tenure should start counting on May 29 of the same year, and not October 26 when he was sworn in, after taking over from Omehia.

However, the Felix Obuah-led PDP Executive Committee has called Amaechi not to drag the Supreme Court into politics by misinterpreting its decision on matters before it. According to the party, Amaechi’s interpretation and information on the October 3 decision of the Supreme Court did not reflect the true position of the apex court.

The United Nations News Centre