If APC Did Not Win, I Knew I Was Going To Be In Trouble- Gov Amaechi

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi
yesterday said he would have been
hounded out of the country by the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP)-led government,
had the All Progressives Congress (APC)
lost the election.
Amaechi spoke at the public presentation of
the compilation of his administration’s
achievements in Lagos. The book
“Dynamics of Change: The Amaechi Years”
is edited by Dr Chidi Amuta and Dr Yemi
Ogunbiyi.
Amaechi said he knew that he would be in
trouble if change did not happen in Nigeria
and was prepared to make the sacrifices
necessary to make it happen.
“I knew I was going to be in trouble.
Anything that would cause that change
not to take place, I was ready to make
that sacrifice. The federal government
sent out a signal that if they won
nobody should let me out of Nigeria
from any airport. One day Asiwaju got
angry with me. He was very angry. I
went to his house with Mallam Nasir
El-Rufai and knelt down, saying ‘please
let’s not disagree, let’s win first and
then we can disagree’.”
“I lost my passport in Ghana and went to
the High Commission. They gave me a
certificate but the Ambassador was given a
query for doing so. I later applied for a
passport and they gave me green, not red.
Now they have given it to me – two weeks
ago,” Amaechi said.
The governor said while his battle with
President Goodluck Jonathan lasted, many
of his friends either abandoned or took care
not to be seen with him in public. He said
he was mostly preoccupied with bringing
change to Nigeria and not about what to get
from the government.
“I told Asiwaju that what is important is to
make a history of the first civilian coup in
Nigeria when your children and
grandchildren read the history with your
name as one of the people who helped
bring about change in Nigeria.
“I said, let us focus on the victory. I
remember the day of the convention, there
were so many intrigues, there will be
convention, there won’t be convention, I
said my leader, if we don’t do the
convention we are finished, the press will
say APC cannot hold a convention, lead us
now, there must be convention and
election. So, he turned to me and said look
for Tunde (Fashola), let us go.”
The event which was well-attended by
chieftains of the APC was a time of tributes
and eulogies for Amaechi by his friends and
colleagues. Some of those present included:
APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu, National Chairman, Chief John
Odigie-Oyegun, former interim chairman,
Chief Bisi Akande and Nobel laureate Prof.
Wole Soyinka.
There were also Governors Ibikunle
Amosun (Ogun), Abdulazeez Yari (Zamfara)
, representatives of Kwara and Bauchi state
governors. governors-elect of Kaduna and
Lagos states, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and Mr.
Akinwunmi Ambode.