"President Goodluck Jonathan is playing politics with Gov. Amaechi" - Okupe

From Vanguard
Dr. Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs was in the Corporate Office of Vanguard Media Limited during which he had an interactive session with Vanguard editors on topical issues affecting the polity. 

He spoke on the administration’s response to the Boko Haram insurgency, corruption and the face off between the presidency and Governor Chibuke Amaechi of Rivers State among other issues.

Excerpt:

What is the problem between President Jonathan and Governor Amaechi of Rivers state?
It is politics. The answer is politics. I can tell politics is at play.


What kind of PDP politics are you talking about?
Are you not aware that PDP is its own problem and all the problems of criticism within the PDP is created by the PDP.

Why does the president perceive Amaechi to be a stumbling block ahead of 2015?
Governor Amaechi cannot be a stumbling block to Mr President’s aspiration.

So why is he moving against him?
He is not moving against him. There are two things. If I want to achieve an objective and in achieving that objective, it will affect you, my primary purpose is not that it will affect you, my primary purpose is to achieve the set goal that is before me. So if there are collateral damages, there are collateral damages.

What are goals of the President for the Nigerian Governors Forum?
Stability of the country. We all know that the NGF was already becoming a destabilizing factor in the polity, that is the truth and let us all face it.

In what way?
The government must go in one direction and if there are dissension, there is problem. We have 36states in Nigeria, 23 of them are PDP governors and the NGF is headed by a PDP governor. Now if the NGF now becomes an opposition platform, then there is a problem. It is not what people are thinking, it is not a matter of whether somebody wants to get to a position or somebody wants to run for an office. We are a government, we are party and we must move in one direction. If we move in different directions, we are not going to achieve much.

Why must all Governors agree to the President?
All the governors do not have to agree with the President. What I am saying is that we are the majority party in Nigeria and the ruling party is the PDP and inside the PDP, there is no federalism and that is the truth. There is no federalism inside the political party, we have just one party, the party has one mission, one goal, one objective and one leader.

So you cannot say because of democracy, you now start to pull the party apart or pull the party down. That is our business and that is why we have problems with people who do not understand politics, they have refused to understand there is no federalism in the party. If the party takes a decision that we are going this way and members of the party seem to be going the other direction, the party has taken a decision and we should all move in that direction.

Can you give one example where Amaechi went against the interest of the party?
There are too many examples.

Give an example where some PDP Governors in the forum spoke against the wishes of Mr President?
If the Federal Government takes a decision for example on Sovereign Wealth Fund and it is something the party has agreed that it must be established and the NGF says no it cannot be established.

Despite being a fugitive from the United Kingdom, former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was pardoned. Did the government take the case in Britain into consideration?
Why should government take into consideration what is existing outside its own shores? We get too much holier than thou in this country. We are a sovereign nation and if Alamieyeseigha has a problem with Britain, let them sort it out with him.