We’ve been Prudent in Handling State Resources, Says Amaechi
Calls on Rivers people to support power shift
Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has attributed successful implementation of projects in the state to welldefined and purposeful use of finance.
He spoke during the 2015 New Year State Banquet organised by the state 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 and I tell Tonye Princewill and he knows that I don’t like money. Tonye Princewill had a problem with Tonye Cole. It is peer jealousy. Why I said peer jealousy, Tonye Princewill suspected that I was going to make Tonye Cole deputy governor in 2011 and I never had 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 had been governor even if he becomes governor, he will be a junior governor to me because I had already become governor before him”
He 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 for even four years. I think as a people that 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 said.
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 had 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 you for that”, he said.
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 knew 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 but beyond God, it was the 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 nonpartisan 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 the 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 needed 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 and solicited support for the party’s governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside.