*Says Amaechi can unseat a Sitting President
...Explains Real Reason for Rivers Emergency Rule
“Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, the former Governor of Rivers State remains an undisputed factor in the history book of top brass Nigerians that worked towards the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the eventual winner at the presidential polls…
By Olawale Lamina
Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has debunked claims by those he referred to as self-serving politicians that President Bola Tinubu was the mastermind of political alignment and strategies that led to the victory of Muhammadu Buhari, during the 2015 presidential elections.
Chief Eze described the admission as careless and ill-fated statement as emanating from fickle minded rabble-rousers, who would stop at nothing in making attempts to rebrand Tinubu as a democrat.
“The senseless, controvertible, misleading and ungodly statement is not only fallacious, but totally bereft of sound reasoning.
“It can only originate from a group of political irredentists and charlatans, who from their dirty closets of joblessness, are ever willing to dish out statements rooted in sycophancy just to score cheap political goal,” the APC Chieftain stated in reaction to aa statement credited to the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Mr. Temitope Ajayi.
In a statement made available to the media on Tuesday, Eze, a member of the APC Legacy Media Team, said, though “the insinuation was too nugatory to merit attention,” however he stated there was the need to correct a wrong impression.
Eze vilified the presidential media aide further , stating that, “The fact that the insensitive sponsored statement gained traction in the media space makes this rebuttal imperative.
“I don’t intend to join issues with Ajayi, but to demount the falsehood his gutter talks intend to establish in the congregation of the reading public, Eze said.
Recall that Tinubu’s aide had in a post on his social media handle, claimed that even though Buhari had his “12 million captive Northern votes” he lost the presidential elections in 2003, 2007, and 2011 before 2015.
“General Buhari would not have won the APC primary election at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, in 2014, without President Tinubu, who mobilised the APC governors and the South West delegates to move Buhari’s way…” Eze quoted a statement by Ajayi.
But he flayed the statement credited to the presidential aide, describing it as “a figment of his infantile imagination, adding that, “Ajayi’s insinuation is a fairy tale, a false narrative that should be disconnected by right thinking Nigerians.
“Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, the former Governor of Rivers State remains an undisputed factor in the history book of top brass Nigerians that worked towards the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the eventual winner at the presidential polls.
“As a matter of fact, aside from becoming the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign, where he mobilized Nigerians to deliver Buhari during the elections, Barr. Amaechi raised funds that saw the election of Buhari as the APC Presidential candidate.
“On the eve of the Primaries, Buhari was at the verge of losing until Amaechi stepped in to save the situation.
“At least, the former Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, as an insider in most of APC activities should understand what he was saying about how Buhari became the President of Nigeria.
“I cannot remember seeing Temitope Ajayi, near APC activities during both the 2014 Presidential Primaries that elected Buhari as the APC Presidential candidate for him to know who made Buhari President or who contributed more in his emergence” Eze explained.
The APC Chief also alleged that Tinubu had plotted to truncate Buhari’s victory if he was not made Buhari’s running mate.
He argued that it was Amaechi and a few others who stood against Tinubu’s opposition with the simple reasoning that it would be risky facing PDP then with a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“That.was how Osinbanjo was drafted into the map. And ever since then, Tinubu has always seen Amaechi as an adversary.
“Since then, Tinubu has not forgiven Amaechi for denying him this dream of becoming the Vice President of Nigeria; and set himself to ensure the decimation of Amaechi politically, with the feeling that Amaechi will become a stumbling block to his presidential ambition in future,” Eze alleged.
Eze said that following the development orchestrated by the former Rivers State Governor, Tinubu ensured that Amaechi was not made the Chief of Staff to Buhari or appointed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, saying these were the privileged positions reserved for Amaechi after successfully midwifing the election of Buhari as the President of Nigeria.
“Ajayi has lost memory, if not, why did he forget so soon that Amaechi, as the Campaign Director General of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation defeated a sitting President?, the APC Chieftain querried.
He claimed that it was based on the sagacity and unrelenting efforts of Amaechi in ensuring the election of Buhari against all odds that forced Bola Tinubu to declare Amaechi as “the General of Revolution” and that he is “not a chicken but Eagle”.
Eze recalled that in 2015, Bola Tinubu hailed Rotimi Amaechi, then Rivers State Governor, as a pivotal leader in the party’s coalition that ousted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria’s general elections. Speaking at the launch of *Dynamics of Change: The Amaechi Years* in Lagos, Tinubu described Amaechi as the “General” of the “Common Sense Revolution,” a term he coined to signify the APC’s non-violent push against PDP’s 16-year rule, marked by alleged excesses and mismanagement. Tinubu credited Amaechi’s leadership in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and his defiance against then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, particularly over federation account disputes, as instrumental to the APC’s victory,” Eze claimed.
The chieftain went on to state that Tinubu noted Amaechi’s courage, especially amidst federal hostility and galvanized the coalition’s strategy, which eventually led to Muhammadu Buhari’s historic win.
The party chieftain and media guru emphasized that despite all that “President Tinubu is still not relenting in ensuring that Amaechi is destroyed politically, “but is he God, no, not at all, Eze insisted.
He explained that political watchers would observe that after the first tenure of Buhari, Tinubu made every effort for Amaechi not to be reappointed as the Director General of Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation during the subsequent election, fearing that should he occupy that post once again, he may be too powerful for him to handle in future.
The APC stalwart linked all that played out to the current political development in Rivers State by saying that, “What Tinubu is doing in Rivers State using Minister Nyesom Wike, is part of a broader plot to destabilize Amaechi’s political dynasty.
Again, Eze blasted Ajayi and his likes, telling them to remain silent, because according to him, “they are totally ignorant on how Buhari became the President of Nigeria.”
He therefore urged Tinubu’s aide and his ilj to desist from peddling falsehood in order to impress their paymaster whom he alleged “has looted the country dry in less than three years into his administration as President.”
Eze described as sad, unfortunate and regrettable the treatment meted our to Rotimi Amaechi by Tinubu and his cohorts after 2023, despite the sacrifices and risks that Amaechi took with others in installing APC as a ruling party in Nigeria.
He predicted what he referred to as an act of wickedness and ingratitude “will surely ouster Tinubu from governance come 2027 no matter the odds”
Eze expressed the believe that President Tinubu will be only a one term President, following Amaechi’s entrance into the field and also expressing confidence that Amaechi, his political benefactor is capable of replicating what he did in 2015 in 2027 by unseating a Sitting President which has become his Hallmark
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