This division in the party was said to have manifested when the warring camps had two separate meetings in Port Harcourt over the weekend. One of the meetings held at the GRA residence of a female lawmaker and the other took place in the Business office of a former female commissioner under Governor Rotimi Amaechi from the Kalabari axis of the state.
The GRA meeting was said to have been at the instance of those who are loyal to Senator Magnus Abe while the meeting at the Trans Amadi area of Port Harcourt was predominantly attended by those loyal to Dakuku Peterside, and by extension Rotimi Amaechi.
Feelers from the meeting of those loyal to Abe indicated a likely defection to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the meeting was said to have directed leaders of each of the local government areas, LGA, to make contacts with PDP leaders in their various LGAs with a view to discussing possible arrangements to decamp to the party.
A source close to the meeting who pleaded anonymity explained that each leader was given what looks like terms of reference on what to discuss at the LGA level, adding that a committee of five persons was also raised to make contacts with a PDP chieftain in the state, who, in their opinion is in a position to arrange a meeting with Governor Ezenwo Wike, who is the leader of PDP in the state.
Worried by the animosity in the party, Comrade Philemon Aselemi, an aggrieved APC member from Abua/Odual Local Government Area observed: “I think the decision to approach the ruling PDP in the state for a working relationship is apt given the deep rooted animosity within the APC which has broken the party into pieces. There is no way, in my opinion, that the two camps can sit together and discuss meaningfully in the interest of the party, let us not deceive ourselves”, he summed.
