The Rivers State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party has decried the absence of the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, from the Southern Forum on National Conference.
The state PDP said that it viewed the governor’s absence from the event that was held on February 24, 2014, in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, as a demonstration of Amaechi’s neglect of the cause of the people.
The event was attended by all the governors of the South-South and South-East with the exception of Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) and Rochas Okorocha (Imo). Likewise, all the governors of the South-West states controlled by All Progressives Congress, APC, also shunned the event.
But the Rivers PDP in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the party’s state Chairman, Mr. Jerry Needam, party argued that rather than express his support for the meeting in Calabar, Amaechi decided to attend a summit of the APC in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Describing the governor’s action as disrespectful, the state PDP alleged that Amaechi bankrolled the APC meeting outside the state.
The statement reads in part, “The Rivers State chapter of the PDP notes with sadness the deliberate absence of Governor Rotimi Amaechi at the all-important Southern Forum on National Conference held in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, Monday, February 24, 2014.
“The party views Governor Amaechi’s unexplained absence as a demonstration of his neglect and abandonment of the cause of the people of the area which ought to be his priority.
“Most annoying to the party is the fact that the governor, rather than showing support for the Calabar conference, which was attended by the most eminent personalities from the states of the South, Governor Amaechi prominently featured at an All Progressives Congress meeting, which was being sponsored by him outside of the state”.