Tag: Amaechi

Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has attributed successful implementation of projects in the state to well-defined and purposeful use of finance.

The Governor said this during his speech at the 2015 New Year State Banquet, organized by the state on Thursday, which attracted state dignitaries and political office holders.

 Amaechi said: “We’ve been very prudent, we’ve managed our resources in such a way that we can stand our ground and tell people like Tonye Princewill that, we can’t steal money. I will publish the transaction of our power assets. Tonye Princewill knows that I don’t like money. Tonye Princewill had a problem with Tonye Cole. It is peer jealousy. I said that because, Tonye Princewill suspected that I was going to make Tonye Cole Deputy governor in 2011. But I didn’t have that at the back of my mind and he approached me and said, ‘why was I going to do that’ and I said it wasn’t part of my agenda.”

 “If that is the reason for which he is attacking Sahara Oil and attacking me, I wish him luck. Let him tell the state why he’s trying to malign my character and I am open for a debate with him. But like I said, he’s my young friend whose ambition is to be governor, I wish him luck. I thank God I have already been governor. Even if he becomes governor, he will be a junior governor to me because I had already become governor before him!”

 Governor Amaechi urged people of the state to appreciate and support the need for power shift in the state’s forthcoming governorship poll.

 “I think that the battle for Rivers soul starts now. You are all here seated, go home and get your brothers and sisters to learn that power has to shift hands. It would be wrong to look at myself, an Ikwerre man and support a greedy and ambitious young boy from the same Ikwerre when you have Kalabari, you have Ogoni and other parts of Rivers State that have not served in the office of the governor. It is the responsibility of Rivers people to vote for the party that has put forward change on their agenda. If the reason for which they are putting Ikwerre candidate forward is because of the population of Ikwerre, then the rest of Rivers State should forget governorship because it is after one Ikwerre man to another Ikwerre man until they are tired.”

 “It will not be fair that the mainland will take governorship for 16 years and the riverine won’t take it for even four years. I think as a people, we should support that shift so that it will go one day from the riverine to the mainland, back to the riverine, back to the mainland until we begin to talk about merit alone.”

He thanked Rivers people for the opportunity to serve the state and especially thanked elders and leaders of the state including his wife for their supportive roles. He said his wife has been a source of great strength and encouragement.

 “Today will be the last New Year Banquet that we hold in office and today I wish to thank my lovely wife for marrying me. From the day she stepped into my house, she has not known peace because, she met me a politician and I have been playing politics until today and she has been able to manage me from that day to today, and I want to publicly thank her for that.”

 He recalled efforts made by his administration during inception to combat insecurity in the state, saying, “I don’t want to bore you with what we met in office, but you know that in our first year by this time, this banquet would have been over because everybody would be running back to his or her house. There was a dinner we had in Government House, by the time the Israelis left here to the hotel; they were kidnapped on the way. The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria was in Port Harcourt for almost one week looking for them until they were released.”

 Amaechi appreciated members of the State House of Assembly and the Judiciary and National Assembly members, for effectively supporting his administration and ensuring survival of democracy in the state.

 “I want to thank members of the State House of Assembly who stood their ground despite the challenges that we faced. In fact, people went as far as collecting money, assuring the President that I would be removed from office and I told them the contract I have with God is not over. To remove me, you need to first go to God. Beyond God, it is a fact that members of the State House of Assembly stood by us, so I thank the Speaker and all the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

 “I also thank members of the judiciary. You will agree that they are supposed to be non-partisan but some became partisan in the course of our work. Leave them to God. Don’t leave them to human beings. Let God be their Judge. But majority of them were non-partisan and I thank them for being non-partisan and for standing their ground to support Rivers State.

“I thank members of the National Assembly. Out of 13 in the House of Representatives, eight are with us. Out of three in the Senate, two are with us. Only one went his way”, he said.

He also thanked state chapters of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) for their understanding over salient issues and co-operation with his government.

 He attributed the drastic fall in allocations to the state, from the Federation Account, to corruption in the government at the centre and falling world oil price.

 He bemoaned the fact that President Jonathan-led federal administration took oil wells from the state and gave to neighbouring states.

Amaechi who equally expressed disappointment over lack of federal presence in the state, argued that Nigerians need a new lease of life.

 He said he would ensure full payment for any loan taken by the state government and will not leave backlog of debts for the incoming administration.

 According to him, the APC governorship candidate in the state when elected in the forthcoming governorship election would sustain his achievements. He seized the opportunity to solicit support for the party’s governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside.

The Chief of Staff, Government House Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha has said the radical change initiated by Governor Rotimi  Amaechi’s administration in the state has attracted many people to accept his agenda and support for All Progressive Congress (APC) in the State.

He said the massive investment in education, health, road construction, youths’ empowerment and so many others, has made Rivers people to reckon with the APC government in the state, adding that governor Amaechi’s legacy will give APC 90% chance  of winning the state in the forthcoming general elections.

Chief Okocha who was speaking at his Rumuigbo residence in Port Harcourt yesterday, said Amaechi led administration enthroned good measure of transparency and accountability in his government, making it difficult for corrupt individuals to loot peoples common wealth.

He said many people are yearning for change because of the lack of responsible government at the national level, arguing that the two million votes given to Mr President by Rivers people in 2011 was a wasteful venture.

He noted that Ikwerre people will never forget Amaechi’s boldness to ensure that Ikwerre man did not succeed Ikwerre man for the interest of the future of their children and unborn children.

“The chances of winning Rivers State are very clear and bright. The truth of the matter is that the legacy of his Excellency speaks volume of APC and our people are desirous of change and that is because the only thing that is permanent is change.

“That is what we want to continue with indelible marks in the sand of time. The people are very happy with Governor Amaechi. When you cause radical changes like Amaechi has done, people are likely to go with you. If you take a statistical data in the state, you will see that almost everybody is yearning for change.

“We gave Mr President two million votes in 2011 and today we have nothing to show for it. He has not imparted the lives of Rivers people. The issue of electricity in Nigeria is a total failure, but Ghana can boost of eighteen hours power supply. So that shows the PDP government has failed.

“For us the people of Ikwerre Ethnic nationality, we did not think that for the interest of an individual, the future of our children and unborn children will be subjugated because Ikwerre man wants to succeed an Ikwerre man. Power will leave us one day, then Ikwerre history in future will be redefined.”

Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi promised yesterday to complete all projects his administration started before handing over to his successor.

In a broadcast marking the New Year celebration in Port Harcourt, the state capital, the governor said the government was mindful of the task ahead and would remain focused to complete work in the various sectors in the remaining months.

He said: “As we noted in our New Year address on January 1, 2014, we have pursued our projects with great zeal within the financial space available.”

According to him, his administration would also properly document all the projects and programmes it executed before handing over to its successor.

Amaechi said the administration had focused on building a knowledge-based economy anchored on the development of infrastructure, agriculture, human capital, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The governor listed some achievements of his government, as the construction of 500 world-class primary schools and four international secondary schools.

He said: “We retrained over 10,000 teachers and employed over 13,000 fresh ones to improve teaching in our schools.

“A University of Education was established to produce professional teachers, and it has graduated its first batch of 688 teachers post-affiliation.”

On agriculture, Amaechi said the government established the multi-billion naira Songhai International Complex, the fish farm projects and the cassava initiative to enhance agricultural activities in the state.

He said: “The private sector has been invited for genuine partnership and this has led to the revamping of RISONPALM, the establishment of a banana plantation, all to create jobs.”

The governor said 120 health care centres and three tertiary health care facilities had been built by the state government across the state.

Amaechi also said 436 new doctors and 400 new nurses were employed to provide services in the new health institutions built in the state.

He added: “The administration’s most outstanding success is the war against the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which has won huge respect for Rivers State and Nigeria.

“Here, we must commend our people for demonstrating total support and loyalty to the government.”

THE Presidency has accused the Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of “treason”.

Amaechi, who is the director general of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, had, at a party function in Lagos last Tuesday, canvassed improved funding of the armed forces for counter-insurgency campaign.

But, in a reaction through a statement yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said Amaechi’s position amounted to a “treasonable pronouncement”.

He also did not spare words in castigating the APC’s presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

Okupe accused him of “compromising his personal integrity and enviable military antecedents” by endorsing the statement issued on his behalf.

The statement reads:”The statement by the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation asking some soldiers to mutiny against the military authorities is a treasonable pronouncement.

“No responsible Nigerian or political organisation for that matter should ever contemplate encouraging or supporting mutiny in the Nigerian Army under any circumstances whatsoever.

“It is a pity that because of Amaechi’s huge financial commitment to the General Buhari campaign, the presidential candidate of the APC has compromised his personal integrity and enviable military antecedents to endorse such a reckless statement issued on his behalf.”

RIVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has been appointed the All Progressives Congress (APC)  Presidential Campaign Organisation’s director-general.

APC’s National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement in Lagos yesterday, said the campaign organisation would drive the party’s efforts at winning next year’s presidential election.

Amaechi’s announcement followed the successful convention at which APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, was democratically elected and the choice of his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

The statement said: “Amaechi’s outstanding reputation as a man of courage, principle, strength of character, decency and love of country, as well as his administrative prowess and organisational skills combined to fetch him perhaps the most important task in the quest for positive change in Nigeria.”

The party thanked Nigerians for their support and prayers toward the success of its convention, the emergence of Gen. Buhari and the choice of Prof. Osinbajo as his running mate.

APC said it had lived up to its promise to Nigerians to ensure that the choice of its presidential running mate would be made within the context of the best democratic ideals, considering the -positive reactions from the public on the choice of Prof. Osinbajo.

‘’With a presidential candidate that has rekindled the hopes of the citizenry and revived their belief in democratic ideals, we believe we must also choose a running mate that will complement the sterling qualities of the presidential candidate. We must confess that the choice was a tough one, considering the array of eminently-qualified and outstanding candidates that we had to choose from.

‘’We picked as running mate a man, whose pedigree, nationally, sub-regionally, regionally and globally, attests to the fact that our party, the APC, is a repository of high quality leadership materials, and that our country, Nigeria, has no shortage of the very best human resources,” it added.

APC said whether in the “academic, legal or ecclesial world, Osinbajo stands much taller than his physical frame, and serves as a good accompaniment to our presidential candidate, himself a man of such rare sterling qualities that have stood the test of time; qualities that are now so sorely lacking in our country’s leadership.

‘’Our presidential running mate is an award-winning professor of law, a legal luminary, a gentleman, a much-sought-after public speaker, a tested administrator, an author and a man of great ecclesiastical standing.

‘’Educated in Nigeria and the UK, Prof. Osinbajo is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court, who has served in many organisations and professional bodies in Nigeria, West Africa, Africa and the United Nations (UN). He has authored or edited over a dozen publications, has taught and practised law at the high levels, and has served on the Editorial Boards of learned publications and non-legal publications, in addition to publishing many articles in learned journals.

‘’Now that we have presented Nigerians with the best possible choices for the exalted positions of President and Vice President, we expect that citizens, who have been yearning for quality leadership, will use their voting power to put Nigeria firmly on the path of greatness.

“A country seeking to be among the greats in the comity of nations cannot afford to have a mediocre leadership.”

The man Amaechi

Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was born in Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area on May 27, 1965.

He is the state’s 15th governor and has been in office since 2007. He was re-elected for a second term on April 26, 2011.

Amaechi was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on November 27, 2013.

He was born to the family of late Elder Fidelis Amaechi and Mrs. Mary Amaechi. He was raised in Diobu, a densely populated neighbourhood in Port Harcourt.

Amaechi received a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours) in English Studies and Literature from the University of Port Harcourt in 1987, where he was the president of the National Association of Rivers State Students (NURSS).

He completed the mandatory National Youth Service in 1988. He thereafter joined the services of Pamo Clinics and Hospitals Limited owned by Dr. Peter Odili, the former Governor of Rivers State where he worked until 1992. He is married to Judith Amaechi and they have three boys.

Political career

Amaechi cut his early teeth in politics as secretary of the now defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in Ikwerre Local Government Area.

Between 1992 and 1994, he was special assistant to the deputy governor of Rivers state and a member of the Board of West Africa Glass Industry as well as Risonpalm Nigeria Limited.

He was the Rivers State’s secretary of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) caretaker committee in 1996 during the transition programme of General Sani Abacha.

In 1999, he contested and won a seat to become a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly to represent his constituency. He was subsequently elected as the Speaker. Amaechi was elected the chairman of Nigeria’s Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies. He was re-elected  into the House in May 2003 and was also re-elected as Speaker.

He contested and won the PDP’s primaries for Rivers State governorship race in 2007. His name was substituted and he took the case to Supreme Court.

Amaechi became governor on October 26, 2007, after the Supreme Court pronounced him the rightful candidate of the PDP and therefore winner of the April 2007 election. He was re-elected for a second term of four years in April 2011.