ANOTHER frontline chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Dawari George, has dumped the party. George’s resignation from the party came a few days after another stalwart of the party and ally to Senator Magnus Abe, Golden Chioma, resigned from the party. However, George’s resignation was said to have caused uncertainties and provoked anger in APC especially among the youths. George was a commissioner for Youths and later Energy in the administration of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
It was gathered that the emergence of Tonye Cole as the APC governorship candidate and the inability of Amaechi to fulfill his promises to George, who had maintained his loyalty to the former governor since 2015 led to his exit from the party. The exiting party chief was reportedly fed up with the leadership style of Amaechi and his alleged failures to reward loyalty. A source, who spoke in confidence, detailed the friendship between George and Amaechi and described his exit from the party as a big loss.
“It is a big loss. After Amaechi chose Cole, he made some promises to the aggrieved persons but could not fulfill them. He promised to recommend George, who has been loyal to him, for nomination as a minister to replace him. But later he failed to fulfill that promise. Amaechi’s excuse was that since George is from the same Kalabari area with Cole, he could no longer be recommended for a ministerial position”, he said. The source said George might realign with the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the general elections.
When contacted, the Deputy Publicity Secretary, APC, Darlington Nwauju, confirmed the development but said there was no cause for alarm. He said: “We recognize his inalienable right to freely associate. We thank him for the responsibilities he undertook while he was with us. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”