By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
The lingering crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress, Rivers State Chapter, will soon be over. This is because Nigeria’s vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is expected to reconcile the two warring factions in the party when he visits Port Harcourt today (Thursday). Reports have it that Osinbajo would be coming to meet with the party’s delegates to ask for their support for next year’s general elections.
Although he is rumoured to be interested in running for the office of president next year, the vice president is believed to still be working for the overall interest of the party because of his position.
The Rivers State APC has been enmeshed in crisis since two factions emerged in 2018, following a quarrel between the former minister of transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the former senator representing Rivers South-East senatorial district in the national assembly, Magnus Ngei Abe. Amaechi is leading the mainstream APC while Abe is leading the splinter group, which recently boasted of having over fifteen thousand members. Amaechi is running for the 2023 presidency while Abe is running for the governorship of Rivers State.
The crisis in Rivers APC climaxed on Wednesday when members loyal to Abe embarked on a protest in front of the party secretariat against what they alleged to be the hijacking of materials by the Chibuike Amaechi faction. The protest was reported to have turned bloody, with one person allegedly losing his life while some got injured, although the Rivers State Police Command has debunked the report.
The Amaechi faction of the party, speaking through its image maker, Chris Finebone, later denied the protesters’ claim that their leader and former transport minister, Chibuike Amaechi, hijacked materials meant for their congress. Whether Amaechi and Abe will be on the ground to receive the vice president is yet to be fathomed at the time of doing this report.
