Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers
State has listed his arch-rival, Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, among
several persons to be honoured by the state.
Prospective honourees will be
honoured for their individual contributions to the development of Rivers State.
Former Nigerian leaders Goodluck
Jonathan and Yakubu Gowon are also on the list, alongside late activist, Ken
Saro-Wiwa, who would be honoured posthumously.
Mr. Amaechi served as governor of
Rivers State from 2007 to 2015. Mr. Wike succeeded him.
The awards ceremony is slated to
hold on May 27 in Port Harcourt, the state capital, according to the program
pamphlet. It was not immediately clear if the minister would accept the honour
or personally show up to receive his medal from Mr. Wike, with whom he’d been
locked in bitter political contest for more than three years.
Mr. Amaechi’s spokesperson, David
Iyofor, said he was not aware of his principal being identified amongst those
to be honoured.
Although Mr. Wike once served as
Mr. Amaechi’s chief of staff during the former’s first term from 2007 to 2011,
the duo soon fell out with each other shortly after Mr. Wike was appointed as
Minister of State foe Education by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Mr. Wike was scheming to succeed
Mr. Amaechi in office, but the then governor had a different plan.
The disagreement soon snowballed
into an all-out political chaos between the duo.
When a friction ensued between
Mr. Amaechi and former First Lady Patience Jonathan, Mr. Wike took sides with
the latter.
The award comes even as Mr. Wike
appears to intensify attacks against his predecessor.
Within the last few weeks, the
governor has levelled many allegations against the minister.
Shortly after a huge stash of
cash was discovered in an apartment in Ikoyi, Mr. Wike took to media to link
Mr. Amaechi with the money.
The claim turned out to be false
after it was confirmed that the money belonged to the National Intelligence
Agency.
On Monday, the governor accused
Mr. Amaechi of raising a cult militia in the state, to prepare for 2019
elections to which Amaechi denied.
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