Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers, says he will not
descend to the level of a child by trading insults with Nyesom Wike, minister
of the federal capital territory (FCT).
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television on Tuesday,
Amaechi stated that Wike was once his chief of staff and therefore ranks
beneath him politically.
“I was once his boss. Whether he likes it or not. I hired
him. I could have said no,” Amaechi said.
At his 60th birthday celebration last week, Amaechi had
remarked that just like millions of Nigerians, he is “hungry”.
Wike had dismissed Amaechi’s comments as a ploy for
political relevance. The FCT minister claimed that Amaechi is not hungry for
food but “for political power”.
In 2021, Wike said he made Amaechi governor.
“I was the one God used to make Amaechi governor. I will
even give you a tape from what he said in church; that after God, I’m next. But
he went on national television to say that I was his staff, his employee. It
wasn’t funny, but I said no problem,” Wike said.
“We all sat to make him the governor and I was the one who
championed it. How do you call someone who made you governor an employee?
“Even after he became governor, he sought my advice on how
to run his government and offered me commissioner of finance but I rejected the
offer because I wanted to be the chief of staff.”
‘I MADE WIKE CHIEF OF STAFF TO SUPERVISE HIM’
In a riposte, Amaechi rejected the claim that Wike played a
role in his election as governor.
“God, Peter Odili, the judiciary and the Rivers state people
made me governor,” he said.
“Ask him how he made me governor. I’m saying this because I
don’t want to join issues with children.”
Amaechi said he appointed Wike as chief of staff instead of
commissioner for finance so he could monitor him closely.
“I wanted him as chief of staff so I could supervise him. I didn’t offer him commissioner for finance. You see, I’m saying this because I don’t want to join issues with children,” he added.
“You know, he made himself chief of staff. He made himself
governor. He made himself minister. He made himself local government chairman.”
He also criticised Wike’s style of politics, accusing him of
lacking maturity and besmirching his family name.
“There’s no more respect for family names. People just do
and say anything,” Amaechi said.
He added that unlike Wike, he constructed multiple flyovers during his stint as governor without publicising them.
The ex-minister of transportation decried the state of
projects he executed as governor, lamenting that many of them have been
destroyed or abandoned.
“It distresses me when I see those projects vandalised,” he
said.
INEC, SUBSIDY REMOVAL
Amaechi also took a swipe at Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), likening him to Maurice Iwu,
a former head of the commission.
“The current chairman of INEC, if he was the chairman in
2015, we would not have won. That’s an important point,” he said.
“May God bless Jega. It’s a very interesting point. Because
the ground rules were clear.
“The current chairman of INEC can only be compared to Iwu.
When we were to register APC, Jega opened the door and we complied with the
registration requirements. He got APC registered.
“The current man, if you comply with all these, he would not
register you. Already INEC is biased.
“So, the only thing I can tell you now is that looking at
the way Nigeria has run the election, even the option A4 led us forward. At
least a lot of transparency.
“You were sure of what was going on. Then we came back to
meet people like Iwu and others and the current one and things got worse.
“So, you don’t know whether to say we are progressing or we
are regressing… there’s a state capture using the electoral institution as a
machine.”
He described Jega as “a man of conscience” and said Yakubu
had already made it clear he would not register new political parties.
“Already he (Yakubu) is stopping parties from being
registered. Already, INEC has taken sides. INEC is no longer the umpire,” he
said.
Amaechi also criticised the Bola Tinubu administration for
“disobeying the constitution and stifling opposition parties”.
“One funny thing about the current government is that they
don’t even obey laws. They don’t obey the constitution. They’re not allowing
the opposition to register political parties,” he said.
“I was 34 when I became speaker. The process was a bit more
transparent than you have now.”
He also faulted the reported suspension of Siminalayi
Fubara, governor of Rivers, saying the constitution gives no such power to the
president.
Amaechi further raised concerns about the use of funds saved
from subsidy removal.
“The president removed the subsidy. Where is the money?” he
asked.
“The president removed the subsidy on electricity. It got to
a point where oil subsidies got to N8 trillion.
“If we deploy N8 trillion into this economy now, it will
feel the impact. Let me also tell you, do we need the coastal road in the
manner that it was awarded? Yes, the south-south needs the road.
“But fix the east-west road. I don’t know how many
trillions. If we deploy that money to the economy, it will change our lives.
Who is collecting that money? The president needs to tell us.”
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