The recent decision of the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and the former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to mend fences in the interest of their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the development of the country has been lauded as exceptional.
A chieftain of the APC in the South-South region and one-time spokesman of the defunct new People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, who commended the two political leaders and former governors of two oil-rich states in the Niger Delta; Rivers and Akwa-Ibom respectively, noted that the selfless decision would in the end payoff for the stability of the Niger Delta region, give the APC a surer footing in the region, even as it would curtail the divisive intents of external Intruders, who had worked to deprive the region of its pride of place in the party.
It would be recalled that both Amaechi and Akpabio had recently met in the Abuja home of Alhaji Nasiru Danu, an ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, having both their host and the Director of Strategic Communications of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), as witnesses, had both resolved to bury all grievances, work together for the interest of the party, the Niger Delta region and for the success of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The meeting, which took place at the private residence of Alhaji Danu in the Asokoro region of Abuja, lasted several hours, during which the leaders frankly and honestly talked about their various disagreements from their days as Governors in PDP and in the then Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).
Eze, however, commended Alhaji Danu, (the Dan Amarna of Dutse) and Barrister Keyamo for the peace-maker role they played in the process, noting that the bold step recently taken by the two key Niger Delta and Nigeria’s political actors is in the best interest of both the region and Nigeria, adding that the effect of it had started reverberating and causing those with selfish ulterior motives, both within the party and outside serious sleepless nights.
“At the end, both leaders agreed to close ranks and work in unison for the overall interest of the party, their region and the country. They promised to put behind them all previous perceived misgivings between them and to give a positive direction to the teeming supporters of the party across the country.
“These two great political giants need no much introduction and sadly their political differences even during their days as Governors of their states have always polarised issues that would have been of common interest to the region, which other political leaders from other regions have always captailised on to deny the region some of its rights in areas of development and appointments.
“Their coming together will put a stop to such negative impact on the socioeconomy of the region and will cause the region to take its rightful position in the political setup of Nigeria.
“I therefore commend and congratulate these two illustrious sons of Niger Delta region for this bold step that will checkmate external intruders that don’t have the interest of the region at heart.
“I expect these two to galvanise and mobilise other leaders of the region so that collectively they can present a common front that will enhance and speed up the emancipation and development of the region as the region can no longer continue to lay the eggs that feed this nation and continue to suffer deprivation and lack of development”, Eze said.
