Chibuike Amaechi, Nigeria’s former minister of transport, has lost out in the power play in the Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Before now, Amaechi, a former governor and former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, was the party’s political leader in Rivers.
In a move to weaken his power base, the party dissolved the state working committee of the APC in the south-south state and appointed a caretaker committee headed by Tony Okocha.
Although Okocha had served as chief of staff to Amaechi, he has since turned against his former boss and has been a political ally of Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory and former governor of the state.
Interestingly, like Okocha, Wike is also Amaechi’s former chief of staff.
The party had tried to appease Amaechi by including some of his loyalists in the caretaker committee.
Eric Nwibani, the secretary of the committee, is a loyalist of the former minister, and so is Chibuike Ikenga, a former caretaker chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, where Amaechi hails from.
Amaechi has not publicly spoken on the recent action by the Abdullahi Ganduje-led National Working Committee of the APC.
Meanwhile, there are rumours that the move by the APC is to pave the way for Wike to defect to the ruling party.
The FCT minister is already having problems with his political godson and incumbent governor of Rivers state, Sim Fubara.
