By Peter Odili
My struggle to sustain Amaechi’s ticket in spite of the obvious vehemence by Abuja leadership against it, continued.
Then came the zonal rallies for the Presidential campaign in Port Harcourt for the South/South. At this event the flag bearer for the various States in the zone were to be recognised by President and national leadership of the Party.
The flagbearers for Cross River, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Edo States were acknowledged and given their FLAGS. Rivers was said to have “K-Leg” and would be sorted out later.
The night preceeding the rally gave birth to this ugly development when the national leadership was directed to ask me or rather instruct me to name a replacement for Amaechi or have one named for me the next day. It became obvious that I had lost the battle to save Amaechi’s candidacy. I immediately sent for Amaechi and broke the sad news to him before anyone else could hear it. The need to constructively face the reality had arisen. We toyed with the idea of optional replacement for him. We eventually settled for CELESTINE OMEHIA – his cousin albeit reluctantly for reasons of peer- group and family rivalry. I felt that the State interest should over ride other considerations. Amaechi’s reluctance was however not in doubt. Armed with this acquiescence I started consulting widely. By the morning of the Zonal rally I had not consulted sufficiently, so could not present Omehia to the National leadership. It was indeed at the rally grounds that I introduced Omehia to the party leaders without him Omehia realising why I was doing so since I had not let him into the development. The rally ended without a candidate for Rivers. After 2 days of wide consultations the State enlarged Caucus approved the Candidature of Omehia as a replacement for Amaechi. Amaechi was part of the decision at least outwardly. A delegation flew to Abuja with me to convey the decision to the Party and the Presidency. Amaechi was part of this delegation and was roundly commended by the then Chairman of the BOT Chief Tony Anenih for being part of the delegation that came to present Omehia as his replacement. He quietly avoided being part of the delegation to the party Chairman and the President.
On returning from Abuja, Amaechi requested to take some time off and travel to recover from the tension of the past days and events. He looked visibly shaken and distressed, understandably so. I agreed and arranged his passage to Ghana within a few days.
In the course of his absence in Ghana my attention was drawn to the fact that Amaechi’s lawyer in pursuing the case he instituted against the EFCC, brought in the matter of his disqualification by PDP and replacement with Omehia. I felt that was not right in the light of the consensual decision in Amaechi’s presence for Omehia’s candidacy. I spoke to Amaechi’s lawyer Dappa Ado Esq. along this line and he explained to me that that was his brief from his client and that he can only alter the brief on the instruction of his client. I respected his position on the matter but advised him to convey my view to his client that what I thought was appropriate at that point was the nullification of Amaechi’s supposed indictment by EFCC and not Omehia’s candidacy. Amaechi’s lawyer never got back to me on the matter and he continued his case.
From that moment on, Amaechi broke contact. I made efforts to reach him without success and asked all those I knew were in touch with him to reach him, such as Sen. Magnus Abe, who was then my Commissioner for Information, Chief G.U Ake, all to no avail. Trust had been threatened. The subsequent events confirmed the breach. The stage for the parting of ways was set. Amaechi continued his court case while Omehia pursued his campaign as the party’s candidate with robust opposition from Amaechi’s supporters. There was clear and palpable hostility from both parties and this resulted to the subdued polarisation of the party supporters on the 2 divides, with each side trading accusations on each other. There was now mutual distrust.
On victory at the polls and formation of Government, Omehia carried on with the exclusion of Amaechi’s supporters, against my advice, who in turn continued their support for Amaechi’s court case.
On the 25th October, 2007 the Supreme Court ordered the immediate Swearing-in of Rotimi Amaechi as Governor. Amaechi assumed office as Governor with the venom of a bitter man on a vengeance mission against all perceived, real and imagined opponents, including me classic ‘misplaced aggression’. My support gave Amaechi the ticket. I did all in my power to sustain his candidature in the face of grave opposition from Abuja. He was party to the choice of Omehia as his replacement. My party loyalty and support ensured PDP victory at the election.
I ensured that we worked hard for PDP to win the Governorship election in Rivers State. If my support had gone elsewhere, PDP would not have won in Rivers State and if PDP did not win in Rivers, Supreme Court could not have ordered Amaechi to be sworn-in as Governor. These are all immutable facts. These-are critical factors that nothing else could therefore have changed and nothing else could be justifiable reason for the hostility unleashed against Dr. Peter Odili on the advent of Governor Amaechi’s Administration.
The axioms “Obedience is better than sacrifice” and “Lex Talionis” were both thrown overboard. Odili became the main victim of his generosity in an unprecedented manner in the annals of Rivers/Nigerian politics. All that could be done to denigrate my achievements in office was done. All known detractors of ODILI were brought on board.
The climax was the setting up of the so-called Kayode Eso ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’, clearly conceived, designed and programmed to permanently indict and incarcerate Dr Odili. I was put on public trial with a live coverage paid for by Rivers State Government. Inspite of obvious bias, prejudice, malice and predetermined objective to indict, I acquitted myself creditably. Even though I was supposed to be a witness, I turned out to be on trial. The panel still went ahead to indict me. I fought back and challenged the report in court. Because of the hostility of the State Government, no judge wanted to touch the case and it took four (4) court transfers before the case was heard. I finally obtained victory in Justice Ahiakwo’s court- throwing out and nullifying the report of the Kayode Eso so-called Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Attached is my presentation at the hearing and the full Court judgment on the report”
Dr. Peter Odili
Governor Rivers State (1999 – 2007)
From his Book, “Conscience & History.”
