Plot To Kidnap Amaechi, Forceful Resignation “Last Desperate Act” By Desperate Presidency – APC

The purported plan to abduct, blackmail and force Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State to resign from office has been described by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the last desperate act of those who are determined to get rid of the governor of the oil-rich state at all costs.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the opposition party said that the plot, which was exposed by the Rivers Peoples Forum, RPF, last week should not be dismissed with a wave of the hand following a similar occurrence in the past and the outcry by Gov. Amaechi that his life is in danger.

“Anyone who thinks this alarm by the Rivers Peoples Forum is outlandish should remember what happened to then Anambra State Governor Chris Ngige, who was abducted and rough handled in 2003 in what is undoubtedly the most egregious violation of democratic institutions in our country’s history.

“The instigators and perpetrators of the crisis in Rivers are keenly aware that they are running out of options. Their impeachment plan has been foiled by the take-over of the legislative functions of the Rivers State House of Assembly’s functions by the  the National Assembly, while their plan to declare a state of emergency in the state has also failed, against the lack of support for such act by the National Assembly.

“This is the reason for this last desperate act by an increasingly-desperate Presidency, which may not exclude a final solution. We are therefore, for the umpteenth time, calling on civil society and human rights organizations, opinion leaders and indeed all lovers of democracy and believers in constitutional rule to intervene to stop the runaway culture of impunity in Rivers State,” it said

APC recalled that a day after the Rivers Peoples Forum exposed the plot against Gov. Amaechi, the so-called chair of the Rivers PDP, Felix Obuah, set out to prepare the grounds for the devilish plot when he called a press conference to deliver a harangue against Gov. Amaechi whom he accused of “insulting and dragging the names of President Goodluck and the First Lady, Dame (Dr) Patience Jonathan to the mud”.

“There can be no better confirmation of the evil plot than this,” the party said.

APC also warned that the madness in Rivers State, which is being carried out under the watchful eyes of the Presidency, which has made the state’s Police Commissioner, Mr. Joseph Mbu, the de facto Governor with a clear mandate to neutralize the elected Governor, should not be seen as an isolated incident, but as part of a grand plot and a test run for 2015.

“As we have said before, the crisis in Rivers is being deliberately orchestrated to test the waters ahead of the 2015 elections, with the belief that if the perpetrators get away with the massive impunity in the state, it can then be extended to other states before 2015 to ensure that the polls will be everything but free, fair and transparent, and also to satisfy the yearnings of a President who is obsessed with winning re-election.

“The daylight rape of democracy in Delta state on Oct. 12th by those who prevented elections from holding, only to announce concocted results, is also part of this plot. The new strategy is to use security agencies, especially the police and the military, to undermine democracy. We have not seen the last of these dangerous games, hence the need for all to be vigilant,” APC said.

-VANGUARD