Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and his predecessor Rotimi Amaechi yesterday resumed hostility over their performance in office and the burial of elder statesman, Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, last weekend.
Wike, who replied Amaechi’s lamentation that Graham-Douglas was not given state burial by the Wike administration, described the immediate-past minister of transportation (Amaechi) as a total failure in office.
He said as far as Rivers State was concerned, Amaechi was unable to attract any meaningful project to the state in seven years when he served as a minister.
In a reaction at the instance of LEADERSHIP prompting, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, said Amaechi had never been a clannish leader, but nationalistic in his approach to governance.
APC spokesman in the state, Darlington Nwauju said, “First of all Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi has always been nationalistic in his approach to governance, first as a governor, then, as minister of the Federal Republic.
“It is on record that he has never been a clannish political leader and can never be. Governor Wike himself has inadvertently confirmed this fact and we are grateful to him for confirming that the leader of APC in Rivers State is a true Nigerian.”
Wike spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the reconstructed former Riv-Bank Insurance building in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He stated that a man who had failed in attracting projects to his state and has exhibited poor leadership within his depleted party, should hide his face in shame and stop talking about Rivers politics.
Wike said, “We have taken all your people. Nobody is in your party again. Why not manage and stay quiet; because of your poor leadership.
“Tell Rivers State people, as minister of transportation, what did you do for your people? Seven good years, all you were interested in was doing business with CCECC, doing standard gauge and the other gauge until now, we have not seen anyone in Port Harcourt to Maiduguri,” he said.
The governor boasted that while he was a junior minister, he attracted the Faculty of Law to the University of Port Harcourt and established the Oil and Gas Polytechnic in Bonny.
Wike said he also made grants available to Kenule Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic in Bori and Ignatius Ajuru University, while renovating several secondary schools in the state.
Wike said, “Tell us, as a grade A minister, what you brought. You think you can deceive Rivers State again.”
The governor said the State government stayed away from the burial activities because it was politicised and he did not want to be associated with such trivialities.
He said: “I saw you people have brought politics to the man’s burial. I said, ok, let me withdraw myself. I don’t want to be involved in this kind of politics.”
Wike stated that if people had gone to bury the dead, they would have focused on that mission of honouring the dead and involved him in the talks around the event.
He said: “Let me us this opportunity to say that I am very disappointed that the former minister of Transportation Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi will still come to the state to talk about this government not giving late Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas a state burial.
“It is unfortunate. I asked him, when Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas was sick, where were you? This State government committed so much amount of money to make sure Chief Alabo survived.
“I want to challenge anybody, we did not spend less than N50 million to make sure our elder statesman survived. It was survival we wanted, we wanted him to be alive.
“When his late son had an accident and was flew to London, this state government bore the cost of it. Go and ask people.”
Wike recalled that it was this same Amaechi, who is now showing he loved Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas more, that refused to honour him while he was alive.
The governor said, Chibuike Amaechi declined to grant the request of Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas for the elevation of the Abonnema traditional stool to first class and construction of Abonnema ring road.
Nwauju (Ameachi loyalist) said, “But to speak to real issues and not engage in un-gubernatorial tantrums, our leader by the grace of God through the appointment offered him by President Muhamadu Buhari.
He influenced the remittance of N78 billion spent on construction of federal roads executed during his time as governor of Rivers State, to the present Government without trying to be politically correct.
“He influenced the commencement of the Bonny deep seaport project, influenced the commencement of the Transportation University, Ubima, attracted the Naval War College, Ubima.
“He influenced the implementation of the UNEP report on Ogoniland; attracted key appointments to Rivers State; employment of hundreds of Rivers sons and daughters in the maritime industry as Seafarers, Safety Marshals etc, influenced the construction of an additional power plant in Afam power station.”
