Rotimi Amaechi: Jonathan chased me out of PDP

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria — Rotimi Amaechi, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress and former Minister of Transportation, has revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, forced him out of the Peoples Democratic Party. He accused the couple of seizing the party’s structure in Rivers State and handing it over to others.

Amaechi made the disclosure in a Channels Television interview on Friday, monitored by NaijaChoice News. He described the episode as part of a pattern that also played out in the All Progressives Congress.

The former minister said he was literally chased out of the PDP by Jonathan and his wife. He insisted the move was triggered by his position as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and his refusal to support certain policies of the Jonathan administration.

Amaechi noted that he had held several meetings with the former president to resolve their differences on those policies. Despite the talks, he said the rift led to his marginalisation within the party.

He added that he spoke directly to President Bola Tinubu on the very day Tinubu won the APC presidential primaries. Amaechi told the president he did not agree with him.

The ADC leader declared he would never keep quiet in the face of injustice. He warned that silence only invites attempts to render him politically irrelevant.

Amaechi’s revelations highlight the deep personal and ideological battles that continue to reshape party loyalties in Rivers State and across Nigeria’s political landscape.