Politicians often make mistakes that deconstruct them without realising it. This happens especially when they are out of favour with those that control the levers of power or when they feel aggrieved. In most cases, they walk themselves into such situations and look for whom to blame or join them in the battles to regain their relevance in the system.

Former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, presented himself as such recently when he said that Nigerian politicians are in power to steal, kill, and retain power.

Amaechi made the remark at the National Conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja. Amaechi said: “All we hear here is typical Nigeria, and you’re clapping. That’s why politicians get away with anything. They get away with murder because you have a short memory. None of you here can defend the votes. You have complained; Nigerians have been clapping for you.”

Making a direct reference to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he suggested that the current political climate would remain unchanged, adding that many Nigerians tend to forget history.

He then added: “Before the election of the last president, a lot of us were called to intervene. Why did they do that? The people were ready to die. You’re talking and abusing everybody; nobody has power and will give it to you. Not even me. If you want a pastor as president, go and get one.

“The politician is there in Nigeria to steal, to maim, to kill, and to remain in power. If you think Tinubu will give it to you, you are wasting your time. When we speak, we forget history.”

Amaechi had made similar remarks in October last year during an interview with ABN TV, where he expressed his frustration with the masses for deciding to be calm amid severe economic hardship.

Amaechi had questioned why Nigerians are not more vocal in their outrage, pointing to rising costs and the inability of many households to afford basic necessities such as fuel.  He said: “I’m angry with the citizens. I have said it several times. You can see a group of people stealing your money, impoverishing you, you cannot buy fuel and anything.

“The people should be angry. There should be protests. Not even protests against anybody but against the politicians that ‘we won’t vote’.

“That is what people should be saying. The rate of hunger now… If people like us cannot afford diesel, you can imagine what is happening to those who do not have children like us.

“Somebody said what this government has achieved is that it has made Nigerians to be strong in the sense that Nigerians now trek.” His recent outbursts only served the purpose of stressing his displeasure with the Tinubu administration.

However, the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, penultimate Friday cautioned against such utterances, saying the armed forces would clampdown on people seeking to destabilise the country.

He said: “Amaechi and others who think they can manipulate our youths into chaos should rethink their actions. This government will not fold its arms and allow any individual to disrupt the peace and stability of Nigeria.

“The Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with relevant security agencies, will continue to monitor activities aimed at disrupting public peace and will ensure that anyone found culpable faces severe consequences.

“It is both reckless and dangerous for a former public office holder to make such inflammatory remarks. At a time when the government is working tirelessly to consolidate national unity and security, no responsible leader should be fanning the flames of violence and political unrest.”

At the conference, Amaechi acknowledged that he has been in the political system since 1987 when he left the university and that he was instrumental to the formation of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its ascendance to power. So, what went wrong?

Born in 1965, Amaechi began his political journey during the transition to the Third Republic when he served as the Secretary to the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), in Ikwerre Local Council of Rivers State.

Between 1992 and 1994, he served as a Special Assistant to the then Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili.  During the transition programme of the General Sani Abacha junta in 1996, Amaechi served as the Rivers State Secretary of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) Caretaker Committee.

He was elected a state legislator on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Ikwerre Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly in 1999 and emerged the Speaker of the House of Assembly – a position he held until 2007. During this period, Amaechi was elected the Chairman of Nigeria’s Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies.

In 2007, he contested for the governorship seat of Rivers State on the platform of the PDP and won. He was re-elected for a second term in 2011.   In 2011, Amaechi succeeded Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and was re-elected to this position in 2013.  He was among the seven serving governors who formed the G-7 faction within the PDP in 2013. Five members of the group, including Amaechi, later defected to the APC.

Subsequently, he was appointed as the Director-General of the Muhammadu Buhari 2015 Presidential Campaign. The party won the election against all odds and Amaechi was appointed the Minister of Transportation by the President. Following Buhari’s re-election in 2019, he served in that capacity until April 2022, when he resigned to contest the presidential primaries on the platform of the party.  He was roundly defeated at the election, polling 316 votes against Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 1,271, votes. Tinubu went ahead to win the presidential election and Amaechi has been in the lurch politically since then.

Meanwhile, immediately after the primary election, Tinubu had visited Amaechi’s Abuja residence on a fence-mending mission, after which he disclosed that they had resolved to work together.

“We had a genuine conversation. There will always be anger and disagreement. A loss of oneness is a loss of hope. We had a fruitful discussion. We have resolved to work together,” Tinubu said.

However, that seemed to be the end of the discussion as Amaechi neither joined Tinubu’s campaign train nor campaigned for him at any fora. Even during Tinubu’s campaign rally at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt, in February 2023, the former governor was conspicuously absent. This had fueled speculation that all was not well between the two APC bigwigs.

Conversely, then governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, a PDP chieftain, who also lost at his party’s presidential primary, was vociferous in his support for Tinubu’s candidacy in his bid to ensure that power shifted to the South after Buhari. Tinubu eventually won and Wike is now serving as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), apparently a reward for a job well done. Speculations that he is now more APC than PDP have been rife and he appears to have the ears of the party leadership and the Presidency even though he has not defected to the APC. In December 2023, 27 Rivers State House of Assembly lawmakers loyal to him defected to the APC but quickly retracted. Their action followed irreconcilable differences between Wike and his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Wike and Amaechi are also sworn political enemies, whose possibility of working together may be far-fetched.

This power play has resulted in the factionalisation of the APC in Rivers State. The Abdullahi Ganduje-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party had in November 2023 dissolved the State Executive Committee led by Emeka Beke, one of Amaechi’s staunch loyalists, and inaugurated a Caretaker Committee for the Rivers State chapter of the party chaired by Tony Okocha, a strong political ally of the FCT minister.

In November 2024, the party held local council and state congresses and returned Okocha as substantive chairman of the party in Rivers State. However, the court has nullified the congresses held on November 23 (local council) and November 30 (state), saying they were conducted in disobedience to an earlier court order that barred the party from going ahead with it. But the party said it would appeal the judgment.

Last Monday, Okocha addressed a press conference in Port Harcourt where he condemned Amaechi’s latest remarks on the Tinubu administration. He had described the former minister as a failed politician who was unable to attract any single project to the region and the state.

But the Beke-led faction quickly responded, accusing Okocha of doing everything possible to force out the original stakeholders of the party in the state, including Amaechi.

Spokesman of the faction, Darlington Nwauju, said:  “Why has former governor Amaechi’s name become the only currency that Tony Okocha and his group can use for their political trade by batter?  The only reason Tony Okocha is doing everything possible to construct a gulf in the APC family is to vex the original stakeholders of the party in the state like Amaechi and force him out of a political party he laboured to build in Rivers State.”

If this allegation is true, Amaechi is in for a real political fight. And this could be why he is desperately looking for those that would join him in his battle to regain political relevance at the state and national levels. How he navigates the trenches remains to be seen.

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