By Davies Iheamnachor

Hon. Nnamdi Nwuche is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, particularly, the leader of the party in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area.

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In this interview he spoke on the position of Hon. Igo Aguma stopping the congresses of the party and steps the party is taking to avoid a repeat of the setbacks the party had in the 2019 election in future polls.

On Aguma’s comments that the party is not at peace to conduct congresses at the moment

In as much as there needs to be peace in the party, which we know that peace is paramount, the question becomes, is he (Aguma) in the right place to suggest that? We have the national executives of the party, and I want to believe that they are working tirelessly to ensure that there is peace in the party generally, because it is not only in Rivers State that they are having problems. The National Working Committee of the party had set up a committee to ensure that there is peace in the party. So it is not in his position!

What does the action mean to you?

It is abnormal and not expected of him; especially, taking into consideration his close relationship with the leader of the party in the state and South-South. I want to say that there is no meeting in Lagos or Abuja that they (Aguma and Amaechi) don’t meet. So he has all opportunity to say as an advice on how the party can progress, there is nothing stopping him from making those suggestions, than coming to the open air. Of course, even an ordinary person who is not a politician can state clearly that it is an attack on the leader of the party.

As the leader of the party in the LGA were you consulted on this?

They say charity begins at home. If he has something that is bordering him in terms of the position of the party in any way, he ought to have informed his home first, possibly call my attention. As a matter of fact, we are very close.   You know people may associate the party at the local government level  with that publication, taking into consideration how close we are. In fact, some are pointingfingers at me that I am aware of it. If he had called our attention to it we would have advised appropriately that there is no need going to the public to create unnecessary problems between the local government leaders and the leader of the party.

Having in mind that the party does not have leadership at any of the levels in the state, how would Aguma have consulted?

That is not correct. The party has leadership, what we do not have is executives. Executives are different from the leadership of the party. You should also be aware that there was care taker committee that was constituted which was part of his bases of going to court to say that the court should nullify that, that it is not the constitution of the party.

Don’t you agree with Aguma when he said that the committee was one sided?

Why does he believe that the committee is one-sided. He did not consult us for clarification. Having not consulted anybody there is no way I will say what he has done is right. What he has done is wrong for him to have taken the step of going to court.

Aguma was with Amaechi when the fight with Sen. Magnus Abe was on, and suddenly he is picking up the fight, don’t you think that Amaechi should be in fear?

It is so unfortunate that Igo Aguma would come up with what he did. Of course there is every tendency that there are still other persons with Amaechi that have issues. But, I know that Rt. Hon. Chbuike Rotimi Amaechi will not be deterred, because he has focus. The important thing is to achieve his focus. They say there is no problem without solution so, if somebody has created a problem, the next thing you do is to look for solution. The party must forge ahead, and those that believe in Rotimi Amaechi must also forge ahead. It is important that following a man in a cunning way is bad. If you are not with a man you come up boldly to say you are not with him, than to go and get something that you will tell members of the public.  You have had Igo Aguma representing Amaechi’s group at different fora. Amaechi has committed so many things to Aguma, he has held several positions, committees. He is somebody that has been held in high esteem. What he has done is baffling.

What is your advice to those who still believe in Amaechi?

Our leader has been consistent believing in those that are his supporters, but some of his supporters have continued to disappoint him. My view is that, those of us who believe and who will continue to believe in him, we must be consistent and constant.  Those of them who are still hiding under and waiting for one thing or the other before they will explode, it is high time they get themselves off the Amaechi group.

There are speculations that Governor Nyesom Wike is planning to come to APC, if he defects, as leader of the party will you accept him?

Chief Nyesom Wike is a politician and knows what he wants. If he wants to defect to APC we are there waiting for him. When he comes we begin to battle it out. If he thinks that leaving PDP for APC will be a safe ground, we are already there in APC waiting for him, when he comes we know the next line of action. We don’t know if that is part of what is promoting all these, we do not know. The point remains that as those who are on ground in APC we are ready to receive anybody that follows the right channel and does the proper thing.

Is Amaechi not running the party as a one-man show?

How? Amaechi has not been unfair to any member of the party. Every person has a right to contest for any position. All you need is to consult with the people. in 2023 we will succeed as a party with candidates for the elections. We have taken facts of what happened to us in 2019 and there must be corrective measures to ensure it doesn’t repeat. we are learning lessons and more things are coming up but we will overcome them

Aguma raised an issue that if that congress had held it would have been for a faction of the party and not for members?

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What is a faction? The caretaker committee set up, was it a faction? Was it Amaechi that set up the committee? Amaechi is the Minister for Transportation, does it mean that the national executives of the party do not have the right to do what they want to do. I don’t know if the congress would have been a factional congress. I know the party was to hold APC congresses in the state and it was for everybody, except you isolate yourself. It wouldn’t have been a factional congress.

Vanguard