Rivers: Buhari Breaks Amaechi’s Hold On Party, Appoints Senator Abe To NNPC Board; The Implications

By Gideon Njoku

For Magnus Abe, the articulate Senator from Rivers State, this is big. President Muhammadu  Buhari has given him a strong voice in the Rivers State APC. He has become a counter power. Equipped for that.

Abe, a lawyer, former Senator, has been appointed to the Board of the NNPC by  Buhari who has just reconstituted the Board, which he first constituted in 2016.

Anybody who has been following the politics of the  Rivers State APC would appreciate what a breather this appointment is to Senator Abe. More important, it is like, at once, an endorsement of his activities in the party, and a rehabilitation of him. It, also, gives him and his supporters in the state a sense of belonging.

Abe has been in a kind of political cooler since he became an ex-Senator. It is not that he has not been taking part in political activities in the state, but it is that none has been fruitful.

Senator Abe’s problems started when he fell out with former Governor of Rivers State, now Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, under whose Governorship, Abe was Secretary to Government. They disagreed on the running of the State APC, and, especially, over the Governorship ticket after Amaechi.

An Ogoni man, Abe thought Amaechi was going to support him, or, at best, not interfere in the process to pick the APC Governorship candidate. But Amaechi did, and, allegedly, told Abe, not to dare to contest. Abe felt insulted, especially, as he alleged Amaechi came to his house, and warned him before his (Abe’s) wife.

Abe insisted the party belonged to all of them, and not to one man. While still acknowledging Amaechi as his boss, an acknowledgement Amaechi once warned him to desist from, Abe said Amaechi was running a one man show in the state, destroying the party, and had become an emperor.

Amaechi backed Dakuku Peterside in that election. When Nyesom Wike gave them a bloody nose, Amaechi helped appoint Dakuku the DG of NIMASA. And his brickbrat with Abe continued. It factionalized the APC in the state, and cost the party zero participation  during the 2019 General elections.

Since then, both men, who were friends, and belonged to the Dr Peter Odili large political family, have disagreed on every political issue in the state.

But Amaechi has always had an upper hand, stemming from the fact that he is not only the  Minister for Transportation, but be was Buhari’s Campaign Director-General in his successful Presidential Campaign in 2015 and 2019.

Now, Abe’s sun has risen. His appointment, by the President, to the Board of the NNPC to represent the South-south geo-political zone,  confirms that. It is an empowerment. A political empowerment. A political  patronage.

The President must have seen something in Senator Abe, recognised something in him, and understood something about the politics of Rivers state. The recommendation to Buhari, for Abe’s appointment, could not have emanated from Amaechi. Perhaps, more likely from the Minister of State,Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, a former Governor of Bayelsa State. This appointment, many think, has implications for Amaechi. It waters down Amaechi’s, amost, all encompassing powers the state’s APC. It is a balancing of power, or a counter to the Minister’s powers in the state, many think. With the appointment, they chorus, Abe’s self esteem has risen to high heavens. His importance, reaffirmed and endorsed.

Is Amaechi losing grip on his leadership of the APC in Rivers State, and his influence on the Party in the South-south? More important, is he losing his influence on Mr President.

Some people agree.

They point out to his inability to either get Dakuku a second term in NIMASA, or influence his replacement.

A man given to bluntness, Amaechi told Nigerians that he was not consulted, and only read and heard about Dakuku’s removal and replacement like everybody else.

To serve on the Board of the NNPC with Abe for an initial three years are: Mohammed Lawal (North west),  Tajudeen Umar (North-east), Adamu Manhood Atta (North central), Dr Stephen Dike (South east) and Chief Pius Akinyelure (South west), allegedly, a Bola Tinubu Candidate,  who was reappointed for a second term.