When he announced it at a school field at Eleme that fateful Wednesday morning, many were taken unawares but Rotimi Amaechi being the political tactician he is was at it again. Awara Biokpomabo, candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the governorship election in Rivers State would also be the bride of Amaechi’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 9, 2019 poll.

This puts to eternal rest the ambition of Magnus Abe to become Governor of Rivers State on the platform of the APC. Should the Appeal Court rule that Magnus Abe was the authentic candidate of the APC it would amount to nothing.

In minutes the news was everywhere spread like wild fire by social media and the internet. Party supporters, stakeholders and most of all, Amaechi’s arch rival, Nyesom Wike, all received the news with utter shock. It was a decision taken after a meeting that lasted through the night of Tuesday to the early hours of Wednesday.

Kristina Reports reliably learnt that mobile phones and other gadgets belonging to attendees at the meeting were separated from their owners, thus making it impossible for the news to leak out.

Stakeholders of the APC took the decision after a tortuous deliberation. But before the final decision was taken, sources say Amaechi put a call through to the President and Vice President intimating them of the about-to-be-taken decision. He got their nod and assurances. It was then Adams Oshiomhole was also contacted.

The initial plan to call a press conference was jettisoned as Amaechi instead took the news with him to Eleme where he broke it with panache, urging party faithful to rally behind the AAC candidate and ensure he wins.

Political analysts see this as a masterstroke in the sense that it does not appear so which makes it a more powerful surprise. Close sources hinted Kristina Reports that every resource has been made available for Awara to be delivered on Saturday.

The decision to switch candidates was taken a month ago when it became clear that the judiciary was bent on frustrating the APC’s bid to field candidates for the 2019 elections.

Security reports had hinted the Presidency that humongous amounts of cash were being circulated around the Judiciary to ensure the Rivers APC matter was dead and buried no matter which court looked at it. Suggestions to go after the implicated judges did not go down well with the President who was wary of stoking any further crisis between the executive and the judiciary again, especially, with the case of Onnoghen still pending.

The option of providing the necessary leverage for the Transport Minister and the rest of the President’s men to deliver the South-South was considered and decided on.

At the moment, Rivers State Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nyesom Wike, who allegedly was frantic about eliminating every opposition to his second term ambition, was jittery about the new development given that he knows the underpinnings of such political decisions.

Smarting from his abysmal performance in the four years he has been in office compared to his predecessor’s, he was well aware that support for him has waned drastically. Highly placed sources within the PDP told Kristina Reports that no politician in the past four years has really been empowered in the true sense of the word as it was during the Amaechi years.

“Imagine that the Governor decides what you get, when you get it and how you even spend it. No contracts, no overheads for MDAs, no allocations for local governments, everything is being done solely by him. How do you survive under such conditions? It is just as if we are not in government,” a source who preferred anonymity said.

The greatest loser from the development was the Senator representing Rivers South East, Magnus Abe, who was reportedly in an alliance with Wike to scuttle his party’s participation in the 2019 polls in exchange for the latter’s support to become Governor in 2023.

So, far he has succeeded in circumventing every effort by the APC in Rivers State to prepare for the 2019 polls. He and his supporters have deployed diverse strategies to force the party to its knees which led to yesterday’s decision to support another party’s candidate.

According to a source who was at the meeting, one of the concerns that gave life to the decision to adopt Awara was the likelihood of the Appeal Court declaring Abe as the proper candidate of the APC thus causing further damage to the party’s cohesion and fortune in the polls. They reasoned that this may turn out to be a repeat of the Amaechi case in 2007.

But yesterday’s move has effectively foreclosed that possibility. Even if Abe wins either at the Appeal Court or Supreme Court, it would amount to nothing as APC would not be on the ballot let alone win any elective position in the elections.

Another dimension to the APC’s decision to support Awara was to douse the tension in the Oceania axis of the state which has remained volatile in recent times.

Awara hails from Kula in Akuku-Toru LGA. Kula has been restive and volatile in recent times. The February 23 election fracas between hoodlums and the military which saw the death of two soldiers was allegedly started at Kula. The Joint Military Taskforce (JTF) says it has already apprehended one of the alleged masterminds, Kenneth Opusingi, who is the son of the traditional ruler of the community. It also declared wanted the chairman of Akuku-Toru LGA, Roland Sekibo.   

The decision also assuages the stand of the APC to project a riverine candidate for governorship after more than 20 years of the upland having the slot. Tonye Cole, APC’s candidate hails from Abonnema in Akuku-Toru LGA. It remains to be seen what si up the sleeve of Amaechi and the APC comne Saturday, March 9.