The enemy of your enemy is your friend, so goes the saying, and this appears to be an apt description of the political realignment involving former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who have, since last year, shifted their loyalty to the new political bride, the All Progressives Congress (APC). In the ensuing scenario, even key politicians who only yesterday defended the policies of the ruling PDP with unreserved fervor have suddenly become the party’s worst critics, and now proclaim the imminent destruction of their former home by the coming elections in 2015. Whoever falls out with the enemy suddenly becomes a friend.
And so, former Bayelsa State governor and leader of the APC in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, recently assured the Rivers State Governor and factional Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, that the Bayelsa chapter of the APC would work with
him to flush out the PDP-led federal government at the next election.
Both Sylva and Amaechi were key leaders of the PDP before they fell out with the powers in Abuja and pronto defected to the new political umbrella, the APC. A possibly Abuja-orchestrated crisis and an electoral loss by Silva ensures his exit from Government House, Yenagoa, in 2011. However, Amaechi remains in Government House, Port Harcourt, until May 2015. Both are now champions of the APC.
According to recent reports, former governor Sylva stated this when he led party executives and supporters of the APC in Bayelsa on a courtesy call on Governor Amaechi in Government House, Port Harcourt, at the weekend.
In Port Harcourt, Sylva said they came to show their solidarity with the Rivers State governor. He said most Bayelsans were frustrated with the Jonathan administration even though the President is from the state and wants change.
“We of the APC in Bayelsa State decided to come to you (Amaechi) to solidarise with you, to tell you that not everybody in Bayelsa state is against progress, not everybody in Bayelsa State is an enemy of progress, that you also have a family in Bayelsa State that identifies with you all the way and we will stand with you all the way.
He said: “When the time comes for us to sweep away the government of the day at the national level, Bayelsans will stand with you and be in the vanguard of sweeping away this government that has brought only misery to the Niger Delta.
“The APC is the platform for progress. You (Amaechi) are an epitome of progress not only in the Niger Delta but also in Nigeria. Everybody that comes to Rivers State will bear witness to what you have done, to your commitment and we will stand with you and we will continue to support you.”
He noted that the APC is a better alternative to the PDP and would provide good leadership. “The APC has provided a very credible platform for progressives to come together and sweep away the corruption and ineptitude of the government of the day,” he noted.
He decried the fact that Jonathan’s presidency brought shame and opened cracks in the body of the South-South people. “Today, we in the Niger Delta have the presidency of this country, but what has the presidency of this country brought to us? It has brought divisions, in fact, put a crack on the unity of the Niger Delta.”
Sylva recalled that Governor Amaechi ran into trouble with the federal government when he pointed out to the Jonathan administration to complete the all-important East-West Road in the Niger Delta.
“I know that one of the things that brought problems between yourself and the federal government was because you were able to point to the fact that even the East-West road which is a major link in the South-South has been neglected by this government and of course there were lots of shouts. Instead of the Federal Government coming to you to learn from you, to take what is good from you, they have decided to fight you and everyone knows (about this) , very unfortunately.”
He applauded the Rivers Governor for the laudable achievements in the state, confessing that so much had changed during the last few years that testify to Amaechi’s credibility and good leadership.
Hear him: “I must say Mr. Governor, that I was so impressed when I came into Rivers State. Many times I missed my way in Rivers State today, in Port Harcourt, because a lot of things have changed during your time. A lot of things have changed for the better, Port Harcourt is wearing a different look, even the air over Port Harcourt is different and sometimes I wish that this change and development we see in Rivers State is also replicated nationwide. We have our brother as president today, unfortunately we cannot say the same thing is happening nationally.”
Responding, Governor Amaechi thanked former Governor Sylva and the APC team from Bayelsa for the visit and solidarity and used the opportunity to call on Nigerians to vote for only credible leaders.
“It’s important we realize that character is an essential element to good governance – you can’t see a man who has betrayed his friends and you say make him governor or make him deputy. What have you done, you have empowered him to betray more persons, including betraying the money you have left behind in the coffers. So character should be an essential element in selecting our leaders.”
He continued: “As you are here, you are potential statesmen and women because if you allow the national interest to override your private interest, then you are statesmen. That you are coming from the state of the president, the party at the national level should praise and give you more support because it takes courage and strength of character to say no, this is where I identify myself with, not to follow because the president comes from your state, it shows the kind of character that you are and what I can do to you is to support you by prayers.”
“I pray quite a lot because I think that is the only way I can survive in this country where everybody is a potential prey and a potential predator. Rivers State and Bayelsa are one and therefore APC in Rivers State and APC in Bayelsa are also one.”
He also called for freedom of choice and expression in the country’s current democratic dispensation. “We want to be allowed to make our choices. We want to be allowed to express our views. We want to be allowed to express our interest and having expressed your interest and your views, the best you can do is to remain convinced in what you stand for.”
Amaechi congratulated those who despite Sylva’s travails remained true and loyal to him, recalling that as a leader he had been severally betrayed, even abandoned, by those he trusted most and urged the APC in Bayelsa State to close ranks and work together for electoral victory in the elections ahead.
Critics have expressed interest in what is happening on the political landscape in the country with the defections and shift of loyalty, mostly at the detriment of the ruling PDP. It remains for the key beneficiary of the losses so far recorded in the PDP to prove it could so something worthwhile with its recent gains.
SOURCE: http://www.osundefender.org/?p=157986
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