There are indications that President Goodluck Jonathan may be ready to patch up his differences with Governor Rotimi Amaechi in order to pave the way for the return of peace in the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State which has been engulfed by internal strife over efforts to wrest control of the party from the governor. Disagreement between the president and the governor is believed to lie beneath the division in the party. However, barely a few days after security operatives prevented Amaechi from greeting the President at a public function in Abuja, Jonathan on Saturday at the Port Harcourt International Airport embraced the governor and members of the state executive council, who had come to receive him as he arrived the airport in a presidential helicopter from Beyelsa en route Abuja. In doing so, Jonathan snubbed his Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike, the leader of the anti- Amaechi faction of the PDP in the state, who was also at the airport with his crowd of supporters, ostensibly, to further lay claim to his closeness to the president. However, when Jonathan alighted from the aircraft with his entourage, he shook hands with Amaechi, managing director of Niger Delta Development Corporation, Dr. Chris Oboh, and a couple of others and was led by the governor to where the state executive council members were lined up and waiting to greet him. The president turned a blind eye to Wike and his group and completely avoided them, even after his attention was drawn to their presence. Wike was clearly stunned and looked dejected after Jonathan boarded the presidential jet without once acknowledging his presence. The future of PDP in Rivers State has hung in the balance since after a controversial verdict on April 15 by Justice Ishaq Bello of the Abuja high court that removed the state executive committee of PDP loyal to Amaechi, which was led by Chief Godswill Ake, and replaced it with another led by Mr. Felix Obuah, which is sponsored by Wike
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 06:02:54 +0000
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