A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has alleged that former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, forced him out of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Amaechi made the claim during an interview on Channels Television on Friday, stating that the former first family took control of the party’s political structure in Rivers State and sidelined him.
“I was literally chased out of the PDP by former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife. They took over the political structure in Rivers State and chased me out,” he said.
He added that his ordeal was linked to his role as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum at the time and his disagreements with some of Jonathan’s policies.
“My offence was because I was the Chairman of Governors Forum. I just didn’t agree with some of the policies Jonathan was pursuing. I had sat down with him several times on the issues,” Amaechi stated.
The former Rivers State governor also suggested that similar political tensions persisted in his later political engagements, noting that he does not remain silent in the face of policies he disagrees with.
“I will never keep quiet in the face of injustice. When I do that, they start planning to make me irrelevant,” he added.
Amaechi further revealed that he had also expressed disagreement with President Bola Tinubu shortly after the latter won the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries.
His remarks add to ongoing discussions around internal party politics and past political realignments in Nigeria.
