PDP: Jonathan Harps on Discipline asAmaechi Files Suit to Stop Probe. President Goodluck Jonathan • Rivers governor accused of aligning with opposition •Gov insists he remains bona fidemember of ruling party •Court asked to stop PDP special national convention By Chuks Okocha,Tobi Soniyi, Muhammad Bello and Ernest Chinwo In a veiled reference to the combative stanceof the Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum(NGF) Chibuike Amaechi, which has led to his suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday made itabundantly clear that the party would not tolerate indiscipline. Jonathan made this observation when he receivedthe leadership of the Rivers State chapter of the PDP which visitedhim at the State House, Abuja. However, in a bid to keep the presidency and party at bay, Amaechi has approached a Port Harcourt High Court seeking to stop the leadership of the PDP in the state from evaluating the performance of his administration. At the court, presided over by Justice Godspower Chiji Aguma, Amaechi,through his counsel, Mr. Adedayo Adedipe(SAN), sought to restrain the ChiefFelix Obuah-led PDP in the state from probing his cabinet. He is also asking the court for a preservative order based on the application for preliminary objection filed by the counsel to defendants for parties to maintain the status quo. The PDP leadership in the state was said to have set up a committee to evaluate the performance of officials of the state, a move believed to be targeted at somekey functionaries with a view to seeking their removal from office. When the mattercame up yesterday, the presiding judge, Aguma, ruled that all parties tothe suit should maintain the status quo, pending the determination of motion for preliminary objection filed by the counsel to the defendants. He said while it was necessary for the court to decide on the issue of jurisdiction raised by the defendants, the parties in the suitshould not take any action that would affect the issues raised in the suit. The judge said though the parties have raised issues of jurisdiction, the court cannot pretend that the issue of res has not been raised, and adjourned the matter to July 30 to rule on the issue of jurisdiction. The plaintiffs in the suit include Amaechi, his commissioners, Senator Magnus Abe, all local government chairmen in RiversState, and the Rivers State House of Assembly, while defendants include the PDP, Mr. Timothy Nsirim, Obuah andthe state Secretary of PDP,Mr. Ibibia Walter. However, the president, at the meeting with theRivers State chapter of the party in Abuja Thursday, said the PDP would nolonger condone indiscipline, notingthat Rivers State was a “key state” that is crucial to the political calculations in thesouth and the entire country. He said if the leaders of the party there were not focused, committed and united, there would be uncertainty in thepolitical landscapeof the entire country. “Rivers State is a key state to South-easterners. It is akey state that needs very strong leadership,focused leadership, committed leadership and maximum politicalunity and stability. Otherwise anything could happen and affect the whole country,” the president stated. He added: “For us to have a stable democracy, we have to have a strong political party. And that iswhy we get worried when wenotice some of the indiscipline in some of the political parties. And the new PDPthat we are all working togetherfor no longer tolerates this indiscipline. “All over the world, parties aresupposed to buildon ideological differences. May be if you look at the classical case of Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) that were created by the military, their ideology was a little to the right and little to the left. But that is the essence of politics. “But in a situationwhere somebodyis in a particular political party but his faith is in another political party, that cannot be tolerated. For those who are not holding political offices, yes you can excuse. “But if you are holding an elective office, you cannot be in one party and be working for another party. Otherwise, why are you there?” On his part, Obuah pointedly expressed disappointment with Amaechi’s conduct and accused him of aligning himself with the opposition political parties, thereby working against the interest of the president. Obuah, who led the state party’sleadership including the former governor of the state, Peter Odili, and Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, disclosed this to journalistsat the close of the meeting, which lasted for about two hours. He said: “We are pained and our heart bleeds today that the main champion ofopposition in the country against Mr. President and indeed the Federal Government of Nigeria is our ownson, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi. “This is indeed shameful. We do not know what has come over the young man.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 06:38:44 +0000
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