Amaechi: “How I Was Chased Out Of PDP And APC” – Rotimi Amaechi

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

A former Governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi, has alleged that he was forced out of  the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, in 2014, by former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience. He also said he was chased out of the All Progressives Congress, APC to which he defected when he left the PDP.

Responding to a question on his peripatetic political antecedents spanning three parties in less than a decade on a Channels Television Interview, Amaechi stated that he moved when it was obvious that he was no longer  wanted in his previous political nests. He disclosed that the structures of the Party were taken away from him and given to another. What he did not say, however, was that he was already working against both the Presidency and the Party by the time he said he was forced out of the Party.

The source reports that Amaechi one of the prominent progenitors of the new-look opposition Coalition platform, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, exited the Peoples Democratic party PDP, ahead of the 2015 general elections to join forces with the All Progressive Congress APC.

He was to later serve as the Director-General of the Buhari/Osibanjo Presidential Campaign Organization in 2015.

However, he was, also, to quit the APC  almost immediately after losing the Party’s presidential ticket to President Bola Tinubu at the 2022 National Convention of the party in Abuja.

He resurfaced after a lull in July 2025, for the midwifing of the ADC, together with others including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar , Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 general elections, former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, former Attorney General of the Federation AGF and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami , former Sokoto State Governor Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and others.

“I was literally chased out of the PDP. Former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife chased me out and handed over the structure of the party to other people.

“My offence was that as  the Chairman of the Governors Forum, I chose to move with the Governors.

“Yes, I left PDP, but the entire country knew what happened. I was chased out of the PDP. Or do you want me to remind you that I was chased out of PDP.

“President Goodluck Jonathan with his wife took over the political structure in Rivers state and chased me out”, Amaechi stated.

The  ADC’s Presidential hopeful noted that  a similar scenario played out in the APC where some people felt uncomfortable with his presence after the party’s presidential primaries.

“The same happened. I was chased out of APC. Thereafter, I joined ADC. In all, the major issue was that I disagreed with some of the policies pursued by political actors. And I left after we could not resolve them”, he added.

According to him, before leaving the PDP, he held several trouble-shooting meetings with former President Jonathan.

“In the same vein,the first day they said President Tinubu won the primary, I told him that I don’t agree with him,” Amaechi stated.

Amaechi explained that he finds it difficult to remain silent in the face of injustice, adding that he will rather quit than compromise certain principles.