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Tag: Amaechi

  • My roles in Sanusi’s letter to Jonathan – Amaechi

    My roles in Sanusi’s letter to Jonathan – Amaechi

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi,  on Thursday explained how he got involved in a letter forwarded to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan by a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, challenging the non-remittance of $49.8 billion oil windfall to the federation account.

    Amaechi’s media office in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday condemned reports in the media saying the former Rivers State governor “surreptitiously and clandestinely” leaked the letter.

    The media office insisted that the reports were far from the truth.

    It said, “A concerned and patriotic Nigerian, who felt sufficiently troubled with what was happening then, gave a copy of the Sanusi’s letter to Amaechi, in Amaechi’s capacity as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). Like Amaechi, we should appreciate that concerned Nigerian’s patriotism.

    “When Amaechi got the letter, he spoke with Sanusi, who was still the CBN Governor, to confirm the authenticity of the letter. Sanusi confirmed to Amaechi that he wrote the letter. During their conversation, Amaechi made it abundantly clear to the then CBN Governor that the bleeding of the nation had to be stopped, all non-remitted funds remitted and that he was going to use the letter to do whatever is in the best interest of the nation and Nigerians, which was the stoppage of the non-remittance and the recovery of all the non-remitted funds from oil sale. The CBN Governor did not agree with Amaechi on the way forward.

    “Considering that the letter was given to Amaechi as Chairman of the NGF, he shared the letter with his colleague governors first, and with Senator Bukola Saraki (now Senate President), who before and around that period was doing some work or/and investigation around the oil sector in the Senate.

    “Around that period, a delegation from the United States government, from the offices of the Secretaries of State and Defence, visited Amaechi in Port Harcourt to discuss the problem of oil theft in Nigeria. From their records, they gave Amaechi figures of billions of dollars (about $7 billion dollars annually) that was being lost to oil theft in Nigeria. They were discussing the issue and figures of oil theft, and that was how the CBN Governor’s letter to President Jonathan came up. In the presence of journalists covering the visit, Amaechi brought out the Sanusi letter to the visiting American delegation to buttress the point that Nigeria was losing far more money to non-remittance of proceeds from oil sale into the federation account, which everyone seemed to concur, was in itself, another form and another dimension to the problem of oil theft.”

  • Amaechi, others for lecture

    Amaechi, others for lecture

    The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, and are to design a road-map for a responsive and accountable leadership in transport agencies and institutions.

    Amaechi, it was gathered, will be leading the experts at the Transport Leadership Lecture being organised by the ministry in collaboration with Kings Communications Limited, publishers of MMS Plus Newspapers on April 28, at the Hotel Colonade in Ikoyi, Lagos.

    Amaechi will deliver the key note address; former University of Benin, Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof.  Adamu Baike, will be  the Guest Lecturer. A shipbuilder and President of Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Mr Greg. Ogbeifun, will chair the event.

    The event will feature maritime technocrats as discussants. The forum, it was learnt, will witness the decoration of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as the best Maritime Agency of the Year 2015.

    Justifying the need for the Lecture at this time of the industry history, the leader of the organising team, Mr. Kingsley Anaroke, said, “The maritime industry and the transport sector at large have been under the attack of bad leadership, which has eroded the benefits of transportation to the economy. So, the lecture seeks to address the leadership content of the problems, which is the key to other problems. Simply put, the character or leadership qualities of a leader to a large extent determine the direction of an agency.

    “We are, therefore, calling on Nigerians and transport sector operators in particular to join the campaign for good leadership in the sector, especially against the prevailing practice of having square pegs on round holes with the concomitant consequences of vision derailment, looting of funds, human and material resources under-utilisation, among others.

     

  • We’re linking rail lines to ports, says Amaechi

    We’re linking rail lines to ports, says Amaechi

    The Minister of Transportation Rotimi Ameachi has said all rail lines being constructed in the country would be linked to ports as it is done in other parts of the world.

    “The first railway contract in the revitalisation policy was awarded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, that is railway from Lagos to Kano; the next one was awarded by former President Goodluck Jonathan, that is Lagos to Calabar.

    “In all these, the agreement with Chinese government that there will be counterpart funding of 15 per cent; we did not fulfill these agreements.

    “The only place they tried a bit was the Abuja, Kaduna and Kano, which is yet to be completed; and we are working extremely hard to ensure that between June and July we would commercialise that rail line.

    “That will reduce the challenges of production; to convey goods and services between Kaduna and Abuja.

    “And I assure that, by God’s grace, before the end of the year we would commence work on the Lagos – Kano rail line,”he said.

    He added that the ministry would ensure that the country’s rail lines are connected to the sea ports in order to reduce the burden on roads and clogging of Lagos ports.

    “When we took over, we discovered that there is nowhere that railway doesn’t end up at the sea port; but this one did not end up at the seaport. So what we did is to connect it to Calabar, Port Harcourt and Onne, and Warri Sea ports and then to either tin can or Apapa.

    “It means if you are in Onitsha you want to import through Warri that’s your business.

    “If you are in Port Harcourt you don’t need to come to Lagos anymore, the same also goes to those who are in Calabar; that is what we’ve done,’’ he added.

    He said the Federal Government has commenced negotiation for the completion of the Itakpe-Warri rail line which had been abandoned for more than 32 years.

    “Nigeria has been struggling to construct that rail line in 32 years.

    “We are negotiating with a Chinese company that is ready to take up that rail line together with the Ajaokuta steel plant.

    “We would carry it all from Itakpe down to Abuja and then down to the sea port in Warri; that entire solid mineral axis will be covered but we have also introduced passenger trains as well.

    “We have not concluded negotiation with them, but when we do, we will handover to them,’’ he said.

    Amaechi said the Federal Government has entered into agreement with the company, General Electric (GE) to revive the old Lagos to Kano rail line.

    He said the company in exchange for the project would build a University of Transportation in the country.

    “We have agreed with GE as follows. I give you Lagos-Kano, and you (GE) give me the following, because you can’t dump a technology on us and go, you must give us a University of Transportation.’’

    The minister said university would train railway graduates, marine engineering graduates and aviation.

    He said the GE would build a factory that would produce the locomotives, wagon and the coaches in Nigeria.

    “Finally, we said to the company you will not take Lagos-Kano if you will not do Port Harcourt – Maiduguri; that again I think they have agreed, we have not concluded negotiation.

    “If all this is done in the next four years, we would have been able to connect the whole of Nigeria and reduce the impact that we put to convey good and services on the road.

    The minister therefore expressed hope that the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration would connect the entire country by rail by the end of his four-year term.

    He therefore appealed to property owners, who would be affected by demotion exercises to pave way for the construction, saying, “please bear with us because without demolition there would be no rail line.

    On aviation, the minister reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to rejuvenate the aviation sector.

    “I hear you loud and clear about the situation in aviation sector; not because of the comfort but because I want to be as proud as the Chinese or Ghanaians when you go to their airports,” he said.

    “Just take a step few metres from the current Port Harcourt airport you will see a brand new airport terminal under construction and by December they should finish that terminal.

    “The same is happening in Kano, which we hope will be completed between December 2016 and January 2017.

    On maritime, Amaechi expressed worry that Nigeria’s maritime sector was not at par with its counterpart in other climes.

     

  • Lawmakers disagree over details as ministry defends Amaechi

    Lawmakers disagree over details as ministry defends Amaechi

    A fresh crisis of confidence has erupted in the Senate and the House of Representatives, with some members alleging that details of the budget were not made available to them before the document was sent to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Besides, the acrimony over the omission of some projects approved by the various committees of the two chambers is growing.

    Some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) yesterday joined the fray. They submitted evidence that some projects, including the Calabar-Lagos rail line, were yanked off the document – the guide to the government’s actions for the year.

    The Ministry of Transportation insisted that the rail line project was in the budget and defended Minister Rotimi Amaechi.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East), yesterday faulted House Committee on Appropriation Chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin’s claim on the Calabar-Lagos rail line.

    Some Senators and Representatives in the Appropriation Committees of the two chambers are unhappy about some items omitted in the budget details.

    A senator and member of the committee, who pleaded not to be named “because of the tension generated by the matter”, said: “It is sad that most of us did not see the budget details before they were submitted to the Presidency. I am actually frustrated because I did not have the privilege of knowing what was submitted.

    “On the Calabar-Lagos rail line, it was part of amended budget submitted to us by the Executive. I was surprised it was omitted.

    “How the reduction of vote for Idu-Kaduna rail project from N18b to N8.7b was done came as a surprise.”

    A second term Senator said: “None of us could get the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Sen. Danjuma Goje and his House counterpart on the phone or locate their whereabouts before they emerged to submit the details to the President.

    “Many of us are angry with them. We were shocked to hear that some of the projects we approved had been dropped.”

    A ranking member of the House of Representatives said: “We will certainly meet on the floor. Some of the items submitted by committees were not included in the budget details.”

    A principal officer in the Senate spoke of how the lawmakers were trying to manage the situation. He confirmed the disquiet among his colleagues.

    Senator Ashafa said: “I have carefully followed the news making the rounds in relation to the budget presented to the National Assembly and what was defended by the Ministry of Transport before the Senate Committee on Land Transport, which I have the privilege of chairing.

    “ The focal points of controversy seem to be the Lagos to Calabar railway modernisation project and the completion of the Idu – Kaduna rail line.

    “ I confirm that the Lagos to Calabar rail line was not in the original document that was presented to the National Assembly by the Executive. However, subsequently at the budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Land Transport, the Hon. Minister for Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, did inform the committee of the omission of the Lagos to Calabar rail modernisation project and indeed sent a supplementary copy of the ministry’s budget to the committee which contained the said project.

    “The minister noted that the amount needed for the counterpart funding for both the Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar rail modernization projects was in the sum of N120 billion, being N60 billion per project.

    “While the committee did not completely agree with all the changes made in the subsequent document, being fully aware of the critical importance of the rail sector to the development of our dear country, distinguished members of the Senate Committee on Land Transport keyed into the laudable (Lagos to Calabar, rail modernisation) project and found ways of appropriating funds for the project without exceeding the envelope provided for the ministry.

    “In so doing, the committee observed that the Lagos to Kano rail rehabilitation project had been allocated the sum of N52billion as against the sum of N60 billion which the Hon. Minister requested as counterpart funding while no allocation whatsoever was made for the Lagos to Calabar rail line.

    “ Hence, the sum of N54 billion that was discovered by the Senate Committee on Land Transport to be floating in the budget of the Ministry of Transportation as presented by the Executive was injected into augmenting the funds needed for counterpart funding of both projects (Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar Rail modernisation), as at the time the committee defended its report before the Senate Committee on Appropriation.

    “The Lagos to Calabar rail modernisation project was therefore included in the Senate Committee on Land Transport’s recommendation to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

    “ With regard to the Idu to Kaduna rail completion, the Senate Committee on Land Transport did not interfere with what was provided for in the budget as sent by the executive, being approximately N18 billion, hence I am equally surprised to read on the pages of the newspapers that the amount allocated to the said project was reduced by N8 billion.

    “While I would have preferred to wait till Tuesday 12th April, 2016 when the National Assembly reconvenes in order to have the benefit of viewing the details of the budget that was conveyed to the executive as passed, I am compelled to place the facts in proper perspective as it relates to the activities of the Senate Committee on Land Transport.

    “Without prejudice to the considerations and powers of the Senate Committee on Appropriations with regard to the appropriations process, the foregoing is the true reflection of what transpired at the committee level with respect to the Land Transport sector of the Ministry of Transport.”

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Health who is also a member of the Transport Committee, Senator Olanrewaju Tejuoso, said that the Transport Committee discussed the Lagos to Calabar railway proposal at the budget defence session.

    Tejuoso said that the committee included the proposal in its submission to the Appropriation Committee.

    He noted that what he cannot say is what happened before the Appropriation Bill was submitted to the Presidency.

    The Ministry of Budget and National Planning yesterday received evidence of the inclusion of the Calabar-Lagos rail line project and its defence.

    One of the documents made available  to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning reads in part:

    • The costal Railway project-Lagos-Calabar of which a provisiona sum of N60, 000,000,000 (sixty billion naira only) was proposed, was completely omitted even though it was   defended before both Houses of the National Assembly. This item is on page 24 of the attached (Appendix 1) main ministry’s 2016 proposal with Sub Activity Code No. 3.3.4.2.
    • The Hon. Minister of Transportation had extensive official and private discussions with both Chairman of Senate Committee on Land Transport and that of the House at various fora. He also had discussion with the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation on same. This is apart from the defence before the various committees during the budget discussion.
    • In the passed 2016 budget, it is pertinent to note that the Lagos-Kano Rail line which was N60,000,000,000 in the proposal, was increased to N92,000,000,000. Where did the National Assembly get the sum of N32,000,000,000 which was added to this project, if it is a fact that the Ministry of Transportation never budgeted for the Lagos-CalabarCoastal Rail Line, where did the National Assembly get the sum of N12.5 billion  allocated to aviation projects which were never budgeted for?
    • Observation of the detailed budget passed by the National assembly is that various new projects not solicited for by the ministry were inserted, relevant ones removed, reduce or increased. Foremost in the reduction is the Idu-Kaduna Rail Project scheduled for completion in June. It was reduced by N8.7 billion and an increase on Lagos-Kano Rail project by N32 billion.

    A top government source said: “The Calabar-Lagos rail line was in the original budget sent to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning but there was an omission  in the collation process.

    “Before the budget defence, the omission was corrected. And 50 copies of the amended budget were submitted to the Clerk to the Senate on February 2, 2016.

    “The same 50 amended copies containing the Calabar-Lagos rail line were received, signed and acknowledged by the Clerk to the House of Representatives on February 11, 2016.

    “After the submission, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had audience  with Ashafa, Goje and the House Committee members to explain everything.”

    Last night, Mr. Akpandem James, the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, said: “The minister is not interested in any issue. His focus is to moderate between the National Assembly and ministries to harmonise the budget before the President returns from China.”

    The Presidency raised eight sticking points in the budget.

    The eight areas are:

    • Removal of the Coastal Railway project after N60b counterpart funding has been provided
    • Expunging of the Calabar – Lagos rail  line
    • Reduction of votes for the completion of Idu-Kaduna rail project by N8.7b
    • Drastic reduction of allocations for the completion of all major road projects across the country,
    • NASS inclusion of new roads on which studies have not been conducted.
    • Proposals made for the purchase of essential drugs for major health campaigns, such as Polio and AIDs  removed,
    • Allocations  for diversification projects under Agriculture and Water Resources were either removed or reduced
    • Diversion of funds to rural health facilities and boreholes for which provisions have been made.
  • The Wike, Amaechi tango

    The Wike, Amaechi tango

    Last Easter Sunday, I put a call through to my brother and friend, Professor Steve Azaiki, a two-time secretary to the Bayelsa State government, who was holidaying with his family in Port Harcourt. He was away in Canada when the much talked about re-run election or bloodletting in Rivers State took place on March 19. I had asked him: “How is Port Harcourt?” In a subdued voice, he responded thus: “Port Harcourt is there looking like maybe Afghanistan or Syria. Anywhere you want to go, people will caution you not to venture into that area. Well, I don’t know. I don’t know!”

    For a person like Azaiki who likes to move around, visit people and places, it was a great lamentation. His obvious disgust on the security situation in Port Harcourt, the Garden City, now, turned into a place where life seems to be “short and brutish,” may have echoed the opinion of quite a lot of residents of the city.

    Port Harcourt was virtually a no-go area during the hot days of the militants’ agitation in the Niger Delta region. That was a time people moved about in fear and trepidation. Today, that era seems to have crept back into the Garden City. This time, not because of any agitation for resource control, but because of the selfish interest of some greedy politicians who will stop at nothing to remain relevant in the politics of Rivers State.

    The type of bitter politics that is being played in Rivers today is unparalleled in the history of the country. Perhaps, it can only be compared with the wetie period in the old Western Region, which earned the region the sobriquet “Wild-Wild-West”. That was the time unimaginable violence and arson took over the entire Western Region in the early-60s. The acronym wetie, meaning “pour petrol”, was notoriously acquired as people were doused with petrol in broad daylight, lit with matches and allowed to roast alive while people watched in horror. Houses were also wantonly burnt down. It is a similar scenario currently playing out in Rivers. Many lives have been lost to gun attacks or by the more cruel, callous and dastardly system of beheading by roving head hunters moving from one community to another, hacking down people and burning houses any time of the day.

    In spite of the restriction of movement on March 19, the day of the election and the flooding of the state with security operatives, several deaths and destruction of property were recorded in the state. Why the heavy presence of security agents in the state could not deter the criminal gangs, is still a mystery. What it simply means is that the killer gangs have godfathers and sponsors who enjoy some form of official protection. Otherwise, the gangs would not have been so bold to defy the heavy presence of security agents to perpetrate their evil deeds.

    At any rate, there are two major political parties locked in a fratricidal war for the control of the soul of Rivers’ politics. They are the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and All Progressives Congress, APC. Since the return to democracy in the country in 1999, the PDP had been at the helm of affairs in the state until some years ago when Chibuke Rotimi Amaechi, the then sitting governor, who was on the final lap of his second-term tenure as governor, fell out with his party, PDP. He then pitched his tent with the APC, an amalgamation of four or five political parties and a breakaway faction of the PDP. Since then, Rivers politics has never been the same.

    Attempt by Amaechi, the then outgoing governor, now current Minister of Transportation, to garner support for his surrogate to succeed him failed. Instead, Nyesom Wike, then Minister of State for Education and one-time chief of staff to Amaechi, beat Amaechi to the game and emerged as governor. In the first instance, people say Wike had actually been Amaechi’s godfather until he, Wike, was cleverly eased out of government and consequently sent to “Siberia” in Abuja where he was made a junior minister. When invariably Amaechi fell out with former President Goodluck Jonathan, Wike gained prominence and became a rallying point for the PDP in Rivers State. He exploited his inner knowledge of Amaechi’s government including his (Amaechi’s) strength and weaknesses to undo his former boss.

    As it is, going by the result of the re-run election with PDP winning three House of Representatives seats and nine House of Assembly seats, to APC’s two seats in the results so far declared by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, no matter what, it goes to confirm Rivers State as being firmly in the hands of the PDP. This is, probably, a bitter pill Amaechi and his supporters find hard to swallow.

    There is no doubt that Amaechi is a strong man politically. He is bold and serious minded too. But his rating at home in Rivers seems to be nose-diving for some reasons. Truly, people say he did not keep open doors when he was governor. He was said to have bolted the door against many people on the advise of Wike, his former chief of staff, who, incidentally, is now the governor of the state. Even within his kitchen cabinet, the Ikwerre-born politician had those that were close to his heart, while others complained bitterly. One thing to remember is that when Amaechi moved to APC, he urged his commissioners and others to embark on “Operation meet your people.” Whether the exercise produced the desired result or not, is left for Rivers people to determine.

    Again, his disagreement with former President Goodluck Jonathan seems to have plummeted his popularity at home. Frankly speaking, many in the Niger Delta feel that he betrayed Jonathan. Another challenge Amaechi is faced with is that he had followers who he empowered. These followers like him, but they cannot embark on a deadly fight for him. Yes, Amaechi embarked on a deadly fight for President Muhammadu Buhari, but how many of his followers can embark on a deadly battle for the immediate past governor at the moment?

    On the other hand, Wike has been trying to impress the Rivers people since he became governor about 10 months ago. He has recalled the judiciary and university workers and paid them their salaries. He has also embarked on the completion of road projects started under his predecessor and many other projects to the delight of the people. All these possibly account for the support he is now enjoying in the state.

    With the perceived arm-twisting posture of the APC in Rivers, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom, Taraba and other states controlled by the opposition, some people, rightly or wrongly, believe there is no remarkable difference between the APC and the PDP. That is why the people’s sympathy for the APC appears to be waning. It now behoves on these two combatants – Wike and Amaechi – who obviously have said too many unprintable things to demonise and denigrate one another, to stop using gutter language on themselves while their people are suffering.

    Rivers people want peace. Therefore, to find a lasting solution to the violence and bloodletting that has taken over Rivers State, two people, Wike and Amaechi, must sit together and iron out their differences. This is all an ego thing. That is why the talk of imposing a state of emergency in the state is an idle talk because it is a supremacy war between two political antagonists. Unfortunately, it is the innocent, ordinary man on the street that is bearing the brunt. As they say, when two elephants fight, it is the grass beneath their feet that suffers. Wike and Amaechi are not greater than Rivers State. Let them embrace peace and rein in their foot soldiers.

     

  • Wike is a danger to democracy, says Amaechi

    Wike is a danger to democracy, says Amaechi

    •Minister brands Ikwerre LGA elections inconclusive
    •Says gov’s thugs carted away the materials before they were collated

    Transportation Minister Amaechi yesterday called Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State a threat to democracy and free and fair elections in the state.

    Amaechi, the immediate past governor of the state, cited the re-run in his Ikwerre Local Government Area (LGA) which he said was inconclusive “because thugs sent by Wike violently disrupted the collation of votes for the LGA.”

    He was reacting to allegations by Wike in THISDAY yesterday in which the governor claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was plotting to release some of the results in the eight local government areas in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Amaechi dismissed the governor’s allegation as riotous, disgraceful and shameful.

    “His resort to blackmail, threats and more violence is a clear danger to the practise of democracy, to free and fair elections in Rivers State,” the Minister’s media office said in a statement.

    It quoted the minister as saying: “You would recall that Wike has been threatening INEC and INEC officials. Before the re-run elections, he threatened INEC officials coming to conduct the elections to write their wills before coming as if they were coming to die in Rivers State.

    “Sadly, an INEC ad hoc staff, a youth corper was murdered. This is a classic case of the owl crying in the night and the baby not waking up in the morning.

    “He threatened INEC before the elections and an INEC official sent to conduct election was murdered on election day, what other evidence do we need to know who is responsible for the death of the INEC official?”

    “Wike is loose cannon, threatening INEC with violence, fire and brimstone. This is intolerable and completely unacceptable. No democracy can survive with Wike’s kind of attitude and disposition to elections.

    “Wike can’t just go on and on threatening crisis, war and more violence just because of his desperation to win elections.”

    On Amaechi’s LGA, Ikwerre LGA elections that Wike claimed PDP won, the Minister said: “The problem in Ikwerre LGA elections was caused by the same Wike who sent his goons to the LGA collation centre to disrupt the collation.

    “The collating officer for the LGA, Dr. Allwell Egeonu told the press and it is on video, that he was lucky to escape alive as thugs, hoodlums invaded the Ikwerre LGA collation centre in Isiokpo,  that they were shooting for over 30 minutes and everybody had to run for their lives.

    “The Wike goons took away all the materials. According to the INEC Collating official, nothing was collated in Ikwerre LGA.  And this man’s story is on tape. He spoke to the media.

    “The Collating Officer for Ikwerre LGA also went to the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) in Rivers State, reported what happened and also wrote about it to the State REC.”

     

    “So what result for Ikwerre LGA is Wike talking about? The man INEC sent to collate the results for the LGA, Dr. Egeonu says there is no result for the LGA because he didn’t collate anything, yet Wike is all over the place disgracing himself that Amaechi lost his LGA.

    “He’s all over the place, threatening crisis, threatening INEC with fire and brimstone, for INEC to release a result that does not even exist, in the first place. You can now understand the kind of desperate fellow we are dealing with here. This must not be allowed to continue. Wike cannot hold an entire state, hostage.  He’s a clear danger and threat to the practice of democracy, and free and fair elections in Rivers State.”

     

  • Wike playing politics with Rivers development, says Amaechi

    Wike playing politics with Rivers development, says Amaechi

    •‘Monorail belongs to Rivers, not minister

    The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has decried what he called the deception of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike in his recent interview on Channels Television broadcast live on Monday from the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    Amaechi, who was Wike’s predecessor, faulted the governor’s statements on the achievements of the former administration.

    A statement yesterday in Port Harcourt by the minister’s Media Office noted that Wike was playing unhealthy politics with the state’s development.

    The statement reads: “We watched with disgust and disbelief the recent television interview of …Governor Wike, the excerpts of which had also been used in some newspapers. It was the typical Wike, twisting, butchering and turning the truth upside down, and in most cases telling outright deceptive lies in his failed bid to denigrate, tarnish and rubbish the towering image, person and laudable landmark achievements of …Amaechi.

    “Most troubling was Wike’s propensity, without any qualms whatsoever, for playing politics with the safety and security of the lives of Rivers people. This is indeed most worrisome. It is no secret that Wike plays politics with development, the welfare and well-being of Rivers people. But no government should play politics with the safety and security of its citizens like Wike is sadly and shamelessly doing.

    “Governor Wike claimed that the brutal political killings and murder of the All Progressives Congress (APC) members and other hapless citizens in the state are cult-related or a result of cult clashes. What cult wars is he talking about? Since he claimed to have security reports, we challenge Wike to tell Rivers people the cult group that Franklin Obi, the APC Ward chairman in Omoku, belongs to, which led to his being gruesomely, beheaded and butchered, alongside his expectant wife and teenage son.

    “Or, did Franklin suddenly become a cult member because he had the guts and courage to host a resoundingly successful ward meeting of APC faithful in the same ward as Wike’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Sstate chairman, Felix Obuah, just a few days to the rerun elections?

    “We challenge Wike to tell us the cult groups and the cult wars that led to the killing of the innocent National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Chukwudumeibi Okonta, on the rerun Election Day? Was the Corps member a cultist or victim of a cult war, or yet another victim of politically motivated killings in Rivers State?

    “Wike must tell Rivers people the cult wars that led to the brutal murder of hundreds of Rivers people since the so-called election, which made him governor, and the cult groups that all those that have been murdered, belong to. Wike’s cult wars/cultists claim is akin to insulting and spitting on the graves and memories of all those murdered and their families.

    “With pity, we watched as Wike tried to compare the political killing of the late Okonta and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad hoc worker on the rerun Election Day in Rivers State to the fire that occurred at the home of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kano State days after the elections of 2015. How pathetic! Even for Wike, this is a new low.

    “On the Rivers monorail project, Governor Wike said he would not touch Amaechi’s monorail and that the state has told him not to continue with the project. Can someone please tell Wike that the monorail belongs to Rivers State and it’s not Amaechi’s private monorail? Pray, Governor Wike, which Rivers people told you not to touch the monorail project? Is it the same Rivers people that have consistently praised the project and see it as a catalyst to jump-start the local economy and place the state at the forefront of transport infrastructural development in Africa?

    “Or, is Wike aggregating the jaundiced views of the coterie of court jesters, who hang around him daily, as the opinion of the people of the State?

    “It is sad, very sad that Wike has elected to play politics with this laudable project that was almost completed before Amaechi left office.

    “Governor Wike also described several ongoing projects in the state when Amaechi left office as ‘abandoned projects’ that he claimed to have completed or about to complete. He specifically mentioned the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo Unity Road, which connects the Island of Opobo to Andoni and the rest of the state. What a shameless lie! This project was ongoing and was almost completed as at May 29, 2015. “May we also remind Wike that the Eagle Island-Diobu Road, which he once claimed to have been abandoned, was 90 per cent completed with just the final course of coal tar remaining as at when he succeeded Amaechi?

    “It’s repudiating that Wike would even attempt to rubbish and destroy the laudable projects and achievements Amaechi made in the Health and Education sectors as governor. Shamefully, what has happened in the past months since Wike became governor is that he has neglected the model schools and health facilities built by Amaechi and allowed them to rot away, taken over by weeds and grasses, in tandem with his policy of not wanting to touch Amaechi’s projects or build on Amaechi’s enduring legacies.

    “Governor Wike, these projects belong to Rivers State and its people, not Amaechi.”

     

  • Amaechi: Wike hiding wanted militants, cultists in Govt House

    Amaechi: Wike hiding wanted militants, cultists in Govt House

    •‘Amaechi ran failed, dizzyingly-corrupt govt’

    Minister of Transportation and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has accused Governor Nyesom Wike of hiding wanted militants and cultists in the Government House.

    Amaechi spoke yesterday on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme. He alleged that the 23 caretaker committee chairmen were known militants.

    The former governor, who said his relationship with Wike, his Chief of Staff between 2007 and 2011, became sour because of violence and corruption by his successor, predicted that Saturday’s legislative rerun would be peaceful in view of the assurances given by security agencies.

    His words: “Wike is protecting killers; all his caretaker chairmen are known militants. The police recovered arms and ammunition from the home of Soboma Jackrich (chairman of Asari-Toru Council) and Jackrich is now living in the Government House.

    “Wike must stop supporting violence by not encouraging the criminals, especially cultists and militants. Wike must allow persons who break the law to be punished. My relationship with Wike became sour, as my Chief of Staff, because of his violence and corruption.

    “If a governor wines and dines with cultists and militants, he will embolden the criminals. As Rivers governor, I never sat down with cultists and militants. I did not support the Federal Government’s amnesty offer to repentant militants because you do not compensate criminals.

    “Chief Godspower Ake (former Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party) begged me to manage Wike as my Chief of Staff so people won’t notice there was a problem. Chuma Chinye (ex-Commissioner for Commerce and Industry) begged me to recommend Wike for a ministerial appointment in 2011. I accepted so as not to appear stubborn and that’s the worse decision I have made in my life.”

    The minister lamented that the people were helpless in view of the deteriorating security, even as he accused governor Wike of failing to protect lives and property, which he swore on oath to do.

    Amaechi maintained that cultism could never be attributed to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), whom he described as God-fearing, insisting that only APC members were being killed. He challenged Wike to show Nigerians any PDP member killed.

    He also denied harassing a policemen and his claim was corroborated by the police spokesman, Muhammad Ahmad.

    Ahmad said: The attention of Rivers State Police Command has been drawn to the news making the  rounds that Chibuike R. Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, on March 12, along Port Harcourt-Omagwa Road, arrested and manhandled a policeman.

    “The command wishes to state that the story is untrue and the act did not happen.”

    But governor Wike, in his reaction through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr. Austin Tam-George, alleged that Amaechi ran a failed and dizzyingly-corrupt government for eight years.

    His words: “Amaechi has been indicted for stealing public fund by a court-approved Judicial Commission of Inquiry in Rivers State.

    “His antics are a diversionary campaign to evade justice, through the rigging of the rerun legislative polls this weekend, but he will be defeated and brought to account.”

    Wike said Amaechi was fighting for his “political life right now”, saying he understood his deadly desperation.

  • Rivers rerun: Amaechi relocates to PH to lead APC campaign

    Rivers rerun: Amaechi relocates to PH to lead APC campaign

    With the worsening security situation across the 23 local government areas of Rivers State, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has stated that his successor, Nyesom Wike, has failed as governor.

    Amaechi, a former governor of the state, also expressed displeasure on the killing, beheading and maiming of only the members and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state ahead of the March 19 legislative election rerun.

    The transportation minister, who spoke yesterday as a guest on a national television station, disclosed that he was moving to Rivers State to lead APC’s campaigns.

    But, in his reaction to the minister’s comments, Wike stated that Amaechi was coming to the state to create crisis, and to destroy lives and property, declaring that the people of the state would resist him with everything at their disposal.

    Amaechi said: “Nyesom Wike is not prepared to be governor. He was targeting the money. Let him now perform as governor. Wike has failed to protect lives and property of Rivers people. He is not fit to be governor.

    “Wike and Patience Jonathan (former First Lady, an indigene of Okrika in Rivers) brought back militants to Rivers State. There was no justice from the Supreme Court on Rivers governorship election, because there was no election. Justice Mary Odili (of the Supreme Court/wife of ex-Rivers Governor Peter Odili) should face her job of giving justice to the people.”

    Amaechi also stated that the only federal constituency (Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni) of 13 in Rivers state, where rerun would not hold on March 19, had Justice Odili’s son-in-law as the representative.

    The election rerun ordered by the election petitions tribunals and the Courts of Appeal would also involve the three senatorial seats and 22 of the 32 seats of the state’s House of Assembly.

    The former governor insisted that the killings and beheading in Rivers were politically motivated, and not a supremacy battle among cult groups, as claimed by the state governor.

    He noted that he was 75 per cent popular as Rivers governor, but his successor wanted to bring him down, reiterating that Port Harcourt, the state capital, is now filthy, smelling and dirty.

    Amaechi disclosed that Wike, as his Chief of Staff between 2007 and 2011, before he recommended him to the then President Goodluck Jonathan for ministerial appointment in 2011, wanted him to be sharing Rivers people’s money, but he said no.

    He expressed shock that his successor had discontinued the laudable overseas scholarship and free education of his administration.

    Meanwhile, a text message was sent at 11:52 a.m. yesterday to the state Commissioner for Information and Culture, Dr. Austin Tam-George, to react to the allegations leveled against his boss, but he did not reply.

    He was also contacted through the telephone at 4:37 p.m. He answered the call and promised to respond “very soon,” but had not done so, as at press time (7:15 p.m.).

    But Wike’s ally, Samuel Nwanosike, who is also the Rivers Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said: “It is laughable that a man (Amaechi), who was in charge in Rivers State as governor, under his watch, APC lost all the seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly, the National Assembly and the governorship. All his resources could not deliver those elections.

    “We welcome Amaechi to Rivers State, but the Nigerian public should know that if Amaechi is coming to Rivers State to come and create crisis, and to destroy lives and property in Rivers State, we will resist him with everything we have as Rivers people.”

  • Rail transformation on course, says Amaechi

    Rail transformation on course, says Amaechi

    Federal Government’s efforts at transforming the country’s rail transport system are on course, the Minister of Transportation,Rotimi Amaechi, has said

    He stated this during the inspection of newly-acquired executive coaches for the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge line at the Apapa Ports Terminal in Lagos.

    Amaechi, who was represented by Director Rail, in the Ministry of Transportation Mr Mohammed Babakobi, said government remained resolute in improving the rail transport system in the country.

    He said: “What we have seen here today are the new coaches that have just been brought here, to service our standard gauge line running from Abuja to Kaduna.

    “It is a complete transformation in the rail transportation sector for the populace.

    “The coaches are made with particular focus of the comfort of passengers; they are very safe and have a designed speed of 150km/h.

    “So with that, we can be assured that the passengers will get to their destinations as fast as it can be, and it’s safe.

    “In a very short while, they will be moved to Abuja and installed on the rail tracks, where they are supposed to be servicing, that is between Abuja and Kaduna.”

    He assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s sustained efforts at acquiring more standard gauge coaches to meet demand.

    “There will be more as we progress on the operation of the line between Abuja and Kaduna; as the demand increases, more coaches will be required,’’ he added.

    Mr Fidet Okhiria, the Acting Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), said the coaches were designed to run at 150km/h, adding that the corporation was on track to upgrade its operations.