Amaechi sponsored CPC convention as PDP governor in 2011 – El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has revealed that Rotimi Amaechi funded the Congress for Progressives Change’s convention in 2011 when he was Rivers State governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

El-Rufai made this known when Amaechi visited Kaduna to canvass for votes from delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the party’s presidential primaries on May 30.

El-Rufai said Amaechi who was also running for re-election, won President Muhammadu Buhari’s heart by coming to CPC’s rescue.

He said this was why Amaechi was turbaned as the Dan Amanan Daura by the Daura Emirate.

“Let me tell you people something. In 2011 when we were in CPC, we were to go to convention and we didn’t have money. Amaechi then was governor of Rivers State under the PDP. I don’t know how he got to know, then he asked how much was needed to hold the convention, and he gave the money. It was the money we used for the 2011 convention.

“Since then, President Buhari asked me to continue talking to him. When they were meeting, thinking of defecting to APC, we used to meet with the seven governors before two chickened out. Amaechi turned his back against his own neighbour, Goodluck Jonathan and said he was going to follow Buhari. He held on to that trust. That was why Daura Emirate gave him that title of Dan Amanan Daura,” El-Rufai said.

He also said Amaechi helped him out when he was declared wanted by the Department of State Service (DSS).

“We are followers of Buhari. It is what he tells us that we do. So, here is my friend and Buhari’s loyalist, what are you going to do? You should know, after today’s discussion, there are going to be discussions.

“Others will come too, but who is your friend? Who is your loyalist?

“There was a time when I was in the opposition, the DSS were looking for me, they wanted to arrest me. Amaechi told me where to go and wait for him. I waited and he drove me to the DSS himself and he insisted that I should be questioned and released to him the same day and that was what happened. So, who is my friend? Who is my confidant?”