Rivers people‘ll chase Governor Wike out of power in 2019 - Amaechi
- Governor Nyesom Wike won't be re-elected in the 2019 governorship election in Rivers state
- This is the verdict of transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who is the governor's arch-political rival
- Amaechi made the statement at a grand reception for him and the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr.Dakuku Peterside, in the state
Minister of transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has predicted that Governor Nyesom Wike won't be re-elected in the 2019 governorship election in Rivers state.
Amaechi made the statement at a grand reception for him and the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in the state on Friday, April 6.
According to him, the Rivers state people will put an end to what he termed Governor Wike’s poor performance, bad governance and misrule, during next year’s election.
Amaechi expressed optimism that the people of Rivers will reject Governor Wike's government in 2019. Photo credit: Isreal Ibeleme
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The event which was organised by the Free Rivers Development Initiative (FRDI) at Opobo, headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro local government area of Rivers state, which is also where Peterside hails from.
Amaechi tasked the people of the area to start mobilizing now with a view to ensuring that they produce the state’s next governor in 2019.
“You must start mobilising now. You have not shown enough anger. You must show enough anger to chase him out of power. Show enough anger, such that if anybody warns you, you should chase the person out of Opobo.
“When Ikwerre people wanted to produce governor (in 2007), they came together, were united and said they wanted governorship of Rivers state, not one of our (Ikwerre) chiefs escaped. If you (people of Opobo/Nkoro LGA) do not get governorship of Rivers S=state (in 2019), blame your chiefs.
“When things were extremely bad with me, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja (indigene of Opobo) was behind me. Not politics. He (Jaja) will agree that I introduced him to major politics. I was hungry, I had a wife and children, but no money to survive then as a young man, but Dr. Sam Sam Jaja stood firmly behind me,” Amaechi said.
Also speaking, Peterside who was the governorship candidate of the party in Rivers during the 2015 election, said Wike is running a failed government. The government, he said, is also petty and has democratized stealing.
The NIMASA DG described Amaechi as a visioner and a leader, who has done a lot for the people of Opobo/Nkoro LGA and other parts of Rivers state.
His words: “Our leader (Amaechi), for a very long time, has taken up the challenge of the development of Opobo and Nkoro Kingdoms. Today, in Rivers state, the symbol of good governance is Rt. Hon. Amaechi. We must be grateful to him.
“Today in Rivers state, soot is killing our people. The current government (of Wike) represents the mass looting of our commonwealth. Our schools are shut down. Our pensioners are being owed and they are dying daily. Our people have no means of livelihood, that is why they are taking to illegal refining of crude oil. Rivers state secretariat is stinking.
“About three years ago, when Rt. Hon. Amaechi left office, the road to Opobo (Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo Unity road), remained less than two kilometres to complete. Till today, Wike’s government has refused to complete the strategic road.
“Before Rt. Hon. Amaechi left government, it was estimated that N6 billion would be needed to complete the road, but when Wike took over, instead of paying the contractor the N6 billion, the contract was cancelled, re-awarded to themselves and they inflated the figure to N14 billion.”
In his reaction, Governor said he is a man of substance, with awards from all over the world.
The Rivers governor, who spoke through his information and communications commissioner Emma Okah, told The Nation that Amaechi and Peterside had not attracted any development project to Rivers state, since their appointments.
Meanwhile, a civil society group, Citizens Centre for Democratic Governance has urged the Rivers state governor, Chief Nyesome Wike to concentrate on the governance of his state and allow the Independent National Electoral Commission, focus on its task of ensuring a free and credible 2019 elections.
The group expressed concern over what it described as persisting insistence by Governor Wike to cast aspersions on the credibility of the electoral body and the 2019 election.
According to a statement sent to NAIJ.com by its national coordinator, Anthony Osagbemi, the group said that the governor continues to raise unnecessary alarm about the 2019 election without necessary evidence to back his claims.
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Source: Naija.ng