By Baron Ike
The stage for full blown intra-party trouble in the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) keeps setting each passing day if what transpired at the weekend in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital and Kaduna State during the party’s Council and Ward congresses are anything to go by.
In Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, the only APC senator from Rivers was practically rendered impotent during the election by his political godfather, former Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, who recently threatened to deal with Abe for daring to indicate interest in the governorship of the state without Amaechi’s consent.
Amaechi also threatened to dethrone any local government chairman of the APC or ward chairman who throws his weight behing Abe’s governorship ambition. The former governor had also indicated that not even President Muhammadu Buhari can save Abeh from his hand.
Abe alleged that the APC leaders in Rivers State had awaited for materials to be used in the election when information filtered in that names of “elected” officers were being compied at the headquarters of the APC in the state to reflect the persons the Amaechi camp wants to install.
The Rivers State APC leadership however denied the allegation, claiming that the exercise went on without any problem.
Though a visibly frustrated Abe sought to know what could have happened from the authorities, he later told reporters that the APC has an internal mechanism to deal with matters of that nature.
Also in Kaduna, Senator Shehu Sani alleged that names of council chairmen and ward chairmen were being written in the “palace of the Kaduna State government house”, and that they will not allow it to stand.
Sani said what transpired in Kaduna was an indication that those who destroyed the opposition political party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had infiltrated the APC and have brought the same tendencies with which they raped the party and the country. He vowed to stop the governor, Nasir el-Rufai and his camp from having their way.
However, El-Rufai said he will investigate the allegations.