The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, wants Governor Chibuike Amaechi removed as the Chairman of the Governors Forum over what it described as his “unbecoming and unbearing influence.”
The Party accused the Rivers State Governor of using the apparel of Governors Forum to harass, intimidate, arrest, demolish properties, act and speak with careless abandon as though he is the highest authority in the land.”
The ACN, River State Chapter, in a statement issued and signed by its publicity secretary, Jerry Needam accused the Governor of Rivers State of using the Forum to push for his personal presidential agenda which is not healthy for Nigeria’s nascent democracy.
Jerry Needam said the only constitutionally recognized groups to check against the excesses of the executive and any abuse of office are the legislature and the judiciary, both of which operate under the critical and prying eyes of virile opposition as a democratic feature.
The party regretted that Amaechi has taken over the functions of the Rivers State legislature and the judiciary.
According to the ACN spokesman, Jerry Needam, the Governors Forum which Governor Amaechi hides under to attack the President, lawmakers, appoint and sack elected local government officers at will, is undemocratic and anti-development and is out for no other purpose than to antagonize and sabotage the efforts of the federal government, and Rivers people.
The ACN regrets that rather than bring about the cross fertilization of ideas among the State Governors, lawmakers, and local government council officials, to make leadership easier for them by comparing notes on the strengths and weaknesses of their administrations with a view to moving progressively forward, Governor Amaechi has succeeded in using the Governors Forum in creating an umpirage for himself in the country any Rivers State, and now sees himself as an umpire with little or no recourse
to the rule of law.
“He is now bigger and larger than the law, the law makers, Rivers people and the president of Nigeria”, the party pointed out.
The ACN believes that the Governors Forum is a parallel Federal Government in Nigeria and the chairman, Rotimi Amaechi, a parallel president in the country and must be stopped before they push the country into strangulation having stagnated the economy already.
A pointer to Amaechi’s dysfunctional disposition, the ACN noted, is authoritarian rule in Rivers State and his stiff opposition to the autonomy of local government councils without referring to the people and
abrogation of the immunity clause from the constitution and many other hard stances that have constituted a hindrance to the success and early completion of the ongoing constitution review and development in Rivers State.
Governor Amaechi has earmarked for demolition Hotels and properties of those opposed to his style of governance. He has also banned opposition political gathering in Rivers State and threatens to tag them cultists, to enable him arrest and prosecute them.
The Rivers State branch of the ACN therefore called for the immediate removal of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as the chairman of the Governors Forum for being anti Rivers people and abandoning the business of governance for globe-trotting.
The party anchored its call for Amaechi’s sack on what it also described as unbridled and talkative character of the Rivers State Chief Executive, contending further that an occupant of such office should not be loquacious and must guard against indulging in ludicrous acts that lower his office and State in the estimation of the right thinking members of the society.
The ACN cited the current media war between Governor Amaechi and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs as one of such instances.
The only reason why Governor Amaechi is no longer self-respecting, the ACN argued, is the notion that his colleagues will always back him up in the event of any reprimand and by so doing, he keeps holding the Federal Government and by extension the entire Nigerian populace to ramson.
“This is dangerous and must be done away with immediately. We therefore urge the Rivers State House of Assembly, the National Assembly and the relevant agencies to rise to this challenge and stop this wanton brigandage by the usurping State Governor Amaechi before it becomes too late and dangerous to contend with. A stitch in time saves nine”, the ACN concluded.
— Saharareporters