The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Amaechi

  • Amaechi warns against militancy in Niger Delta

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Friday warned that if the youths of Niger Delta don’t stop militancy, it could lead to under-development of the region in the future.

    Amaechi said this at the sideline of the inspection of the Dualisation of the East-West road in Rivers on Friday.

    He urged the youths in the region to be peaceful and stop kidnapping those on assignment to develop the region.

    The minister explained that the issue of kidnapping of contractors on site was prominent in the region compared to other regions, which had increased the engagement of security personnel on site projects and cost.

    Amaechi, however, noted that the Federal Government won’t wait for a particular region to be peaceful before embarking on development projects, saying that there are other regions that need developmental projects.

    Read Also: Guard your utterances, Sultan cautions politicians

    “I am not too happy with the militancy, you will see every contractor with soldiers and police and that is not the right thing to do.

    “I am working as the Minister for Transportation on Lagos-Ibadan and no army or police is attached to the Chinese.

    “Nobody is kidnapping them, no communal clashes, nobody is harassing them.

    “But here, once you bring one project management everybody gathers. We must tell our young men that it cannot continue.

    “If we do, other parts of the country will leave us behind. In the cabinet, nobody is looking at your face, they are looking at the country and if any part is not ready for development, other parts won’t wait for them.

    “You cannot tell anybody from Igbo land to wait until you develop south-south, or anybody from Sokoto to wait until you develop Rivers state, no way,” he said.

    He said that when Itakpe-Warri rail started, they kidnapped a black man, which was bad, urging the youths in the region to be peaceful and stop kidnapping those on assignment to develop the region.

  • Amaechi: Rivers APC can’t fail in 2019

    •Transportation minister, a detribalised Nigerian, says Peterside

    Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot fail in 2019 to replace Governor Nyesom Wike.

    He described the election of youthful Rivers chairman Ojukaye Flag-Amachree as a new beginning and a step in the right direction.

    Amaechi, a former governor, spoke yesterday at St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church, Elechi Beach, Mile 1, Diobu, Port Harcourt, at a thanksgiving to mark his 53rd birthday.

    Present at the church service were Amaechi’s wife, Dame Judith; Director-General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside; Deputy National Secretary of APC Chief Victor Giadom; Senator Andrew Uchendu (Rivers East); Flag-Amachree; his predecessor, Chief Davies Ikanya; and oil magnate Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs; among others.

    Speaking at the colloquium and reception for Amaechi’s birthday at Hago Heights Event Centre on Peter Odili Road, Port Harcourt, Peterside described Amaechi as a detribalised Nigerian, a great personality, and a revolutionalist.

    A member of the House of Assembly, Mrs. Victoria Nyeche, who represents Port Harcourt 1, said the minister was a man of courage and vision, who would always be celebrated.

    Another panellist, Dame Ibufuro Tatua, noted that the celebrator transformed the state as governor and is doing his best for Transportation.

    Rivers chairman of APC, in an online statement yesterday by the Publicity Secretary, Chief Chris Finebone, said Rivers APC applauded Amaechi for providing a focused leadership.

    Flag-Amachree said: “It is a thing of joy that our leader, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has provided focused and purposeful leadership for our party in Rivers State. We could not have got it better.”

    He thanked God for the gift of wisdom, good health, resilience and staying power, which had seen the minister traverse the delicate political terrain of Rivers and Nigeria, despite many challenges.

    Flag-Amachree added that he and other members have no doubt that the Lord will continue to remain Amaechi’s bedrock of strength in the years ahead.

  • Standard gauge: Work to begin on Lagos corridor in June, says Amaechi

    MiNISTER of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi said yesterday that work will begin on the Lagos corridor  of Lagos-Ibadan rail standard gauge in June.

    The minister has promised to deliver the project in December.

    Amaechi acknowledged the effort of the Lagos State government in resolving challenges disrupting the pace of work.

    The challenges, he noted,  are gas and petroleum pipeline, as well as water and sewage removal.

    The minister spoke after an inspection of the project at Papalanto in Ogun State.

    Assessing the work, he noted that work has moved from Ijoko in Ogun State to Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

    “We have made appreciable speed between Papalanto and Ibadan. In order not to affect our deadline, we need to resume work in Lagos,” Amaechi said.

    The minister said the contractor had made progress in tracks laid, and was laying beams of two bridges at Papalanto.

    Although he could not confirm kilometres of tracks  laid, Amaechi said 17 bridges would be built between Papalanto and Ibadan, with two  in Lagos.

    Amaechi earlier hinted at a meeting that the Federal Government will go ahead with the project, if Lagos continued to pose a challenge.

    He said: “We agreed a long time ago that while we (Federal Government) would take care of the gas and petroleum pipelines, Lagos would take care of the replacement of the water and sewage removal.

    “If Lagos refuses to come up with its solutions, we would be left with no choice but to use our old, narrow gauge alignment, which can accommodate what we wanted to do and leave Lagos to look for another alignment when it is ready to start its Red Line light rail project.”

    But the minister later admitted that Lagos had come up with a workable solution.

    “We have agreed that Lagos State should come back to the meeting within the next two weeks with the solutions so that work can resume as scheduled on the Lagos corridor by June,” he said.

    On the threat by rains, Amaechi said the engineers had assured that work will continue.

    He said CCECC has affirmed his promise to deliver the project in December.

  • Amaechi remains leader of APC in Rivers, says Peterside

    DEPUTY leader of Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has affirmed Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi as the party’s leader in the Niger Delta state.

    Dakuku’s position followed the protests by Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast) and his allies.

    He maintained that there was no faction in Rivers APC, adding that party members are united under the headship of Amaechi, a former governor of the state.

    Peterside, in an online statement yesterday by his media team, dismissed the claim by some disgruntled elements that the transportation minister had hijacked Rivers APC for personal gains.

    He noted that party members had the right to aspire to any position, just as individuals within the party also had rights to choose whoever they would support.

    The director-general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said: “Amaechi is the leader of all. Everybody subscribes to his leadership. He has no such powers to hijack the APC. He is one member of the APC. If he has the support of the majority, you will say he has the support of the majority, including myself.

    “He (Amaechi) cannot be the leader of every ward and local government in Rivers; it is not possible. He is the leader at the state level, because of the support of other leaders, both elected and unelected; every member of the APC subscribes to his leadership.”

    Peterside, the governorship candidate of the APC during the 2015 election, disagreed with the people suggesting that the governorship ambition of Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in Amaechi’s government, was the reason for the crisis in the party.

    He said: “Abe cannot be the reason (for the crisis in Rivers APC). He is entitled to aspire to any office in the land, including the Presidency. No man can stop him from aspiring for any office he chooses to contest. What he cannot guarantee is the support of individuals, because it is their choice.

    “I am sure there will be others who will make their intentions known (to be Rivers governor in 2019 on APC platform). The party will set the guidelines for the primaries and if he (Abe) wins, everybody will rally round him. We ordinarily expect him to also support whoever emerges from the party.”

    On the issue of either being politically independent or dependent, the NIMASA chief hinged his position on both, while insisting that his interest is to serve Rivers people to the best of his ability.

    The face-off between the transportation minister, an indigene of Ubima in Ikwerre LGA, and Abe, who hails from Bera-Ogoni in Gokana Local Council, led to the cancellation of the May 5 and May 12 ward and local government congresses, and the postponement of the May 19 state congress to today in Rivers.

     

  • Amaechi remains leader of APC in Rivers, says Peterside

    DEPUTY leader of Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stated that Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi remains the party’s leader in the Niger Delta state.

    Dakuku’s affirmation followed the protests by Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast) and his allies.

    He maintained that there was no faction in Rivers APC, adding that party members are united under the headship of Amaechi, a former governor of the state.

    Peterside, in an online statement yesterday by his media team, dismissed the claim by some disgruntled elements that the transportation minister had hijacked Rivers APC for personal gains.

    He noted that party members had the right to aspire to any position, just as individuals within the party also had rights to choose whoever they would support.

    The director-general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said: “Amaechi is the leader of all. Everybody subscribes to his leadership. He has no such powers to hijack the APC. He is one member of the APC. If he has the support of the majority, you will say he has the support of the majority, including myself.

    “He (Amaechi) cannot be the leader of every ward and local government in Rivers; it is not possible. He is the leader at the state level, because of the support of other leaders, both elected and unelected; every member of the APC subscribes to his leadership.”

    Peterside, the governorship candidate of the APC during the 2015 election, disagreed with the people suggesting that the governorship ambition of Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in Amaechi’s government, was the reason for the crisis in the party.

    He said: “Abe cannot be the reason (for the crisis in Rivers APC). He is entitled to aspire to any office in the land, including the Presidency. No man can stop him from aspiring for any office he chooses to contest. What he cannot guarantee is the support of individuals, because it is their choice.

    “I am sure there will be others who will make their intentions known (to be Rivers governor in 2019 on APC platform). The party will set the guidelines for the primaries and if he (Abe) wins, everybody will rally round him. We ordinarily expect him to also support whoever emerges from the party.”

    On the issue of either being politically independent or dependent, the NIMASA chief hinged his position on both, while insisting that his interest is to serve Rivers people to the best of his ability.

    The face-off between the transportation minister, an indigene of Ubima in Ikwerre LGA, and Abe, who hails from Bera-Ogoni in Gokana Local Council, led to the cancellation of the May 5 and May 12 ward and local government congresses, and the postponement of the May 19 state congress to today in Rivers.

     

  • I did not call Amaechi, Fashola scavengers: Okonjo-Iweala

    Former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has slammed those she termed “mischief-makers” for “putting words” in her mouth, saying she described former governors Rotimi Amaechi and Raji Fashola, now ministers, as scavengers.

    Okonjo-Iweala, who was also a former minister of finance during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was reacting to reports trending on the social media where she allegedly said ‘yesterday’s scavengers are today’s saints’.

    The two-time Minister of Finance was said to have stated this in her book: ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous’.

    However, Okonjo-Iweala, who was also the Coordinating Minister of the Economy during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, said those were not her words.

    Okonjo-Iweala said: “At no point in my book, ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous’, did I say ‘yesterday’s scavengers are today’s saints’.

    “While I appreciate all the reviews and discourse the book is generating at home and abroad; mischief-makers who wish to add their comments should get their own copy of the book so that they can make intelligent contributions, rather than putting words in my mouth”.

    In the trending social media report, Okonjo-Iweala allegedly talked about the challenges she faced while trying to make the Nigerian Government save during the season of oil boom.

    The alleged report is reproduced below:

    “Rotimi Amaechi as Chairman of Nigeria governors Forum took Jonathan government for trying to save for raining season including Fashola and most APC members, today they are the ones shouting that the PDP did not save, hypocrites and liars.

    “We then established a stabilisation mechanism and opened an account for the oil surplus, which posted up to $22 billion.

    “In 2008, when prices fell from 148 to $ 38 a barrel, no one has heard of Nigeria because the country was able to tap into this fund. And that, I am very proud [of].

    “When I returned to the department in 2011, there remained only $4 billion on this account (because part of the money saved was used to fund the amnesty programme for Niger Delta Militants embarked upon by the Yar’Adua government) while the price of oil was very high!

    “I tried again to put money aside. The PRESIDENT agreed, but the GOVERNORS did not accept.

    “I suffered a lot of attacks from them (and they took us to the court up to the supreme court) and now that the country would really need this account, these same people accuse me of not having saved!

    “If Nigeria had been more careful, we would not be here today. It hurts me. We have the mechanism, we had the experience, but we were prevented to act.

    “Unfortunately, the same scavengers of yesterday are the saints of today.”

    According to Okonjo-Iweala, who is now Senior Advisor Lazard Ltd, Board Chair Gavi; Board Member AfricanRiskCapacity, the said report is the handiwork of mischief-makers.

    Okonjo-Iweala urged the mischief-makers who wish to add their comments to get their own copy of the book so that they could make intelligent contributions, rather than putting words in her mouth.

  • Rivers: Amaechi, Peterside floor Abe, Odike, supporters

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, yesterday floored the lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe; the Deputy Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Peter Odike; and their supporters.

    Odike, Abe and their teeming supporters across the 23 local government areas of Rivers State, on Friday, celebrated the motion on notice, in a suit filed by Felix Mboi, an ally of Abe, to stop yesterday’s ward congress of the APC in Rivers, with APC; the National Chairman of the ruling party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; Rivers Chairman of the APC, Chief Davies Ikanya; and the state Secretary of the party, Chief Emeka Beke, as defendants.

    Amaechi, who is the leader of APC in Rivers and the Southsouth zone, and Peterside, the deputy leader of the party in the state, who was the 2015 governorship candidate of the APC, however declared in separate interviews in Port Harcourt that they were not aware of any court order or injunction retraining Rivers APC from conducting yesterday’s ward congress.

    Our reporter who monitored the ward congress in Port Harcourt and some parts of Rivers confirmed that the election (ward congress), using Option A-4, took place peacefully and orderly across the 319 wards in the state, with impressive turnout of members.

    Abe, yesterday evening in Port Harcourt, in an online statement by his Spokesperson, Parry Benson, however, claimed that there was no ward congress of the APC in the 23 LGAs of Rivers State yesterday.

    He also stated that there was no stakeholders’ meeting before the scheduled ward congress, as promised by the leadership of APC in Rivers.

  • Amaechi, Abe in verbal war as protest hits Rivers APC sale of congress form

    TRANSPORTATION Minister Rotimi Amaechi and his estranged ally, Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers South), were last night locked in a fresh stand off after irate youths vandalized the Rivers State secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Port Harcourt, ahead of today’s ward congresses of the party. The youths believed to be sympathetic to Abe,an APC governorship aspirant, accused Amaechi and state party chair,Chief Davies Ikanya, of plotting to impose candidates during the congresses. They accused the officials of refusing to paste the list for the congresses in the 392 wards in the state. The process was expected to begin yesterday with the release of the party members lists, and sale of nomination forms to aspirants. Amaechi is the leader of the APC in the state.

    The youths smashed the doors, windows and computers in the office located on Forces Avenue. Amaechi accused Abe of engineering the action of the youths because, as he said, the senator wanted a consensus candidate. He vowed that this would never happen. He denied hijacking electoral materials for the ward congress, as alleged by Abe and his supporters. The minister also said he was not aware of any court order stopping the ward congress. Amaechi was also irked by a statement credited to Governor Nyesom Wike in which he sympathized with the APC on the death of some APC members during yesterday’s attack on the party’s secretariat. The minister said no one died during the attack. He said: “A lot of people are complaining about internal democracy in the APC. So, why are they running away from internal democracy? Let’s go and queue up behind the candidates we want. “As early as 6 a.m. today (yesterday), I gathered that thugs had taken over the Rivers State secretariat of APC (opposite old Government Reservation Area Divisional Police Headquarters). In view of the noise, policemen found it difficult to take action, in spite of their being invited to protect the property by the leadership of Rivers APC.

    “The party (Rivers APC) needed to sell forms to anybody who was interested. What the governorship aspirant (Abe) wanted to do was that there should be no congress. He (Abe) took over the entire secretariat (of Rivers APC) with thugs. At 3 p.m., policemen had to force themselves in, to be able to sell forms and for people to be able to purchase forms for tomorrow’s (today’s) ward congress. “If that candidate (Abe) is popular, why didn’t he ask his supporters to buy forms, go and compete at the wards? I am grateful that people bought forms and I hope that his (Abe’s) supporters also bought forms. By tomorrow (today), there will be congress. I do not carry thugs about.” “There are no materials for the ward congress. It is just for people to buy forms and contest the election.

    They will go to the bank, pay, get tellers and buy the forms. People will queue up tomorrow (today), supervised by officers from the national secretariat of APC. They will count, using Option A-4. Whoever wins becomes the chairman. The report by the committee will be written and sent to the national secretariat of APC. No materials to hijack. “If they are afraid of elections, they should say so. In Rivers State, people were accustomed to writing results of elections, without actual voting, for 16 years. It was worse in 2015. Soldiers and policemen were then used to chase people around, they would sit down and write results. We went to court and the court said writing of results was okay. We had to abide by the judgment.” Abe, in his response, stated that he was fully prepared for election, stressing that Amaechi was afraid. The Senator said: “It is Amaechi that is afraid of election. That is why he is causing all these problems. I did not mobilise thugs to Rivers State secretariat of APC. The people at APC’s secretariat were Amaechi’s miscreants. I am a man of integrity.

    “I am fully prepared for election. That is why I declared my intention to contest on April 24, 2018, with all inauguration of Freedom House (his campaign office in new GRA, Port Harcourt).” Abe asked President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of APC to ensure free, fair and credible congresses in the party, to ensure peace and unity. Earlier,spokesman of the party in the state, Chris Finebone, denied the allegations made by the protesters. He told reporters that the delay in the sale of the forms was caused by the non-arrival of the officials sent from the APC national secretariat to supervise the exercise.

    He assured stakeholders, including party members, supporters, aspirants and the public of transparent, peaceful and credible exercise. He promised that the sale of the forms would begin once the officials came. He dismissed as false,suggestions that the forms had been diverted. “I can say it again and again that everybody will be given a level playing ground participate and the process will be transparent, free, fair, credible and peaceful, I can assure,” Finebone said. But the youths soon lost their patience after the process failed to take off as promised by Finebone. They broke into the building and helped themselves to whatever they could lay their hands on. Men of the Special Anti-ribbery Squad (SARS) soon intervened ,firing canisters of tear gas into the unruly protesters. Efforts to reach the spokesman of the state police command, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police failed.

  • Stop fighting Oshiomhole, youths tell Amaechi

    •Delta APC ‘won’t accept’ ex-governor as party chair
    •Oshiomhole not alternative to Oyegun, says Airhiavbere

    SOME All Progressives Congress (APC) youths in Southsouth have urged the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Ameachi, to stop fighting ex-Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole over position of the party’s national chairman.

    They told Ameachi to concentrate on defeating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in River State.

    A statement in Benin yesterday by Ebie Paul (Bayelsa); Chidom Ogor (Rivers); Tony Adun (Edo); Edesiri Ojugo (Delta); Victor Eket (Cross River) and Igbiri Cosmas (Akwa Ibom), backed the Zonal Executive Committee in adopting Oshiomhole as the zone’s candidate.

    The statement reads: “Oshiomhole fought doggedly for the APC in the South South, and because of him, APC was able to hold on to Edo State. But Amaechi failed to win Rivers State for APC.

    “Each time there is an election, he decides not to participate and PDP will win, so how can such a man want to dictate who becomes what in APC in the Southsouth?

    “Rather than strategising how to defeat Wike, Amaechi has been holding meetings to stop Oshiomhole from becoming APC’s National Chairman. Oshiomhole comes to Benin and walks freely because he is loved by his people, but Amaechi cannot walk the streets of Port Harcourt freely unless with soldiers; this is the sign that he is not home with his people.

    “We appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to open his eyes very well because people like Amaechi lack what it takes to deliver the South South for him. Oshiomhole has done it in Edo State, and we know that APC will pick more states in the South South if he becomes the chairman.”

    APC in Delta State has rejected moves to back Oshiomhole as national chairman.

    Oshiomhole was endorsed by Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki; Zonal Vice Chairman Hilliard Eta; and four of six zonal chairmen, at the Government House yesterday.

    A statement by the state’s Deputy Chairman, Chief Cyril Ogodo, described the adoption as “desperate and despicable”.

    Leader of the party, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, said party leaders and stakeholders did not deliberated on adopting Oshiomhole as candidate.

    According to him, incumbent chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun is “a worthy son of our zone who has performed creditably, and who deserves to be given the first right of refusal”.

    The chairmen, who dissociated themselves from the adoption, include Chief Davies Ikanya (Rivers); Deacon Joseph Fafi (Bayelsa); Etim John (Cross River); Amadu Attai (Akwa Ibom), and the Deputy National Secretary Victor Giadom.

    A chieftain of the APC in Edo State, Maj.-Gen. Charles Airhiavbere, has faulted the endorsement of Oshiomhole by the Southsouth caucus for the party’s national chairman.

    He said Oshiomhole is not an alternative to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

    Airhiavbere, who spoke on the division in the Southsouth chapter over the choice of Odigie-Oyegun and Oshiomhole for the national chairman, said the latter remains the best candidate given how he has kept the party together.

    He maintained that being a former governor does not guarantee that Oshiomhole  would be a good party chairman because he has not been tested.

    According to Airhiavbere, what is playing out ahead of the party’s national convention is an awful way to reward Odigie-Oyegun after all he has done to stabilise the party. He called on stakeholders to support him for a second term so that he can consolidate on his achievements.

    His words: “The division in Southsouth is normal, and I believe a healthy competition means the APC is still very vibrant and a party to beat. But Oshiomhole is not an alternative to Odigie-Oyegun. That is the truth and that is my stand.

    “If there is anything, I want my voice to be heard on this issue. Oshiomhole is not an alternative to Odigie-Oyegun if the APC national chairman will come from Edo State. He is not an alternative because we know the contribution of everybody to the party. So, my take is let Odigie-Oyegun remain.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • FEC approves N61bn for road projects, others

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved a total of N61.464 billion for roads, dredging of seaport and construction of buildings.

    Five ministers – Babatunde Fashola (Works, Power, and Housing), Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation), Abdulrahman Danbazzau (Interior), Suleiman Adamu (Water Resources), Adamu Adamu (Education) and the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, briefed State House correspondents after the meeting.

    The seven hours meeting was chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Amaechi said the Council approved N13 billion for dredging of escravos Warri Seaport.

    Fashola disclosed that his ministry presented three memos which resulted in the approval of three contracts.

    The projects, he said, included Babalampa – Sharam road in Plateau State at a cost of N19.92 billion, Lagos – Ota – Abeokuta road revised upward by N22 billion and Enugu -Port Harcourt expressway at a cost of N6.31 billion.

    Danbazzau said N234 million was approved for construction of two buildings, cadet mess and cafeteria.

    Adamu disclosed that FEC approved the establishment of Nigeria Army University in Borno State.