The cold war between the United States and the former Soviet Union in the 90’s reminds me of the brewing political battle of wits between the erstwhile emperor of Rivers state and his former protégé. Both men are now in a state of
hostility without actual fighting.
The governorship candidate of the APC who used to be a loyal errand boy when the emperor reigned supreme have suddenly made up his mind to break free from the strangle hold of his former lord having just realized the fatal damage his master servant relationship with the former Governor had cost him.
The overbearing and rascally attitude of the former Governor who seizes every available opportunity to belittle and treat his former stooge as a worthless slave even in the presence of his family, and the many betrayals in their various underhand business dealings necessitated his sudden volte face against the former Governor.
The APC governorship candidate in the last general elections has taken advantage of the bitter rivalry amongst national leaders of their party by pitching his tent with a faction of the many contending forces within the party to take total control of the party structure in Rivers state.
So far it appears that an aggrieved governorship aspirant from the Ogoni extraction and a former docile member of the red chamber who felt shortchanged in the APC governorship primaries has also joined forces with the then favoured standard bearer to undo the embattled ex Governor who is desperately battling at all fronts to save whatever is left of his diminished political career.
The two former lackeys of the former Governor who had previously been rivals in the build up to the APC governorship primaries now turned powerful allies, are leaving no stone unturned in their absolute resolve to halt the political aspirations of the former Governor who they now view as a common threat to their own political survival.
Rivers people are watching in suspense as the cold war drama in the APC between a treacherous master and his disloyal servants unfolds.
Fred Phillips is a Media aide to Hon Evans Bipi
