THERE are indications that the presidency and
Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi may have opted for a peaceful
resolution of the crisis between them to avoid overheating the polity
and endangering the democratic process.
Sources close to the presidency and Amaechi told Saturday Tribune that
all sides to the conflict have realized the danger in allowing the
conflict to degenerate further, hence the sudden embrace of peace.
It was gathered that the PDP hierarchy and the presidency were worried
that the crisis was being kept on the front burner by the media on a
daily basis, a suggestion that some forces were trying to benefit unduly
from the crisis.
According to sources, “it appeared to the
government of the day that some forces are trying to use the Rivers
crisis as an avenue to unduly get to the root of the nation’s
democracy,” a source said.
“The presidency is disturbed anytime the
Rivers crises is seen as a Jonathan/Amaechi war. The president has
distanced himself from the crisis but every attempt is being made to
drag his name in. I can tell you that the government has decided to
douse the tension and encourage the combatants to embrace peace,” a
source told Saturday Tribune.
According to the source, the
government is unhappy that the crisis is attracting comments from
respected leaders like the former Head of State, General Abdusalami
Abubakar.
It was gathered that such comments are already being seen
as constituting security risk, but sources said that “the current
administration will not stand by while some parties attempt to paint the
nation black because of the crisis in Rivers State.” One of the options
isolated by the source is a final resolution of the crisis rocking the
Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) by effecting a no-victor no-vanquished
arrangement that would see to the emergence of another chairman.
It
was also gathered that following the resolution of the NGF crisis, the
PDP will be made to take a holistic view of the crisis in Rivers and
proffer appropriate solutions.
It was gathered that the battle
appears to be going deeper because the interests of governor Amaechi and
Wike as well as some leaders of the anti-Amaechi group are
diametrically opposed.
He said, “Amaechi wants to be politically
relevant after leaving office; he wants to either nominate a successor
or be part of the making of his successor. It looks as if when Amaechi
gets what he wants, Wike will lose out; and if Wike gets what he wants,
Amaechi will lose out. The intervention of the president could solve the
whole equation at the end of the day.”
The source said that the
task could be accomplished in a short while, adding, however, that the
first task before the peacemakers is to take the crisis out of the
headlines so as not to allow some forces paint the entire country as
engulfed in crisis.”
Indications to this new development emerged
soon after four northern governors were reportedly attacked by
demonstrators in Port Harcourt, a mob action said to have alarmed many
within the political establishment.
The attack on the governors may
have warned leaders of increasing degeneration of the political
conflict across the country as well as the gradual degeneration into
rule of mob.
In the last one week, major political actors have
intensified their plea for reconciliation among rivals, with such calls
coming from unexpected quarters. Rapprochement calls range from
reconciliation between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President
Goodluck Jonathan, to ceasefire between the First Lady, Dame Patience
Jonathan, and Governor Amaechi.
In a surprising volte face, the
First Lady openly and directly extended an olive branch to the Rivers
State helmsman. She added, “I appeal to Amaechi to sheathe his sword so
that we can defend our state and this country with love, unity,
patriotism and truth at all time.
“Hebrews 12:14 urges us to embrace
peace with all men, without which we cannot see God. Amaechi is my son,
I cannot fight him and I cannot kill him. He shouldn’t be used by
outsiders against his own blood because this seat is vanity,” the First
Lady said. Less than 24 hours after, governors of the Action Congress of
Nigeria and deputy governors from other states controlled by the
merging parties converged on Rivers State and emerged with a surprising
call on the embattled governor to visit and brief the president on the
situation in the state.
In a manner contrary to APC attitude since
the crisis started, the APC governors almost literally called on their
colleague to make peace with President Jonathan, whom Governor Kayode
Fayemi called “our leader.”
The Chairman of the Governors Forum of
the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Godswill Akpabio, is, however,
embarking on another peace move that has direct relationship to the
reelection bid of President Jonathan.
Akpabio, who became
governorship candidate of the PDP through direct intervention of
Obasanjo, is said to have set a goal of reconciling both the president
and his estranged godfather.
Akpabio is said to be banking on his
closeness to the two leaders to bring them back on common terms. How far
he will go on the project is, however, not clear.
A chieftain of
the Congress for Progressive Change in Taraba State, Mohammed Mustapha,
described the sudden calls for peace and reconciliation as a welcome
development, even as he cautioned leaders of the opposition on the
development.
“It is a welcome development; but we must be careful.
We in the opposition should not be seen to be helping PDP in their time
of crisis,” he said.
A political analyst, who is also a veteran
journalist in Port Harcourt, Ignatius Chukwu, observed that “the most
dangerous aspect of it all: the army is not happy with what is happening
and I believe you heard the former head of state, Abubakar, speak the
other day. The political class knows what this means. They would have
recalled what happened in the previous republics, when the Federal
Government had been locked in muscle flexing with the weaker structures.
Like the Action Group case, the Unity Party of Nigeria case, Federal
Government won; but how long did those governments last after their
triumph? The political class must have realised this, hence the attempts
at tidying up and burying hatchets now,” Chukwu explained.
Source: Tribune
