Tough Times Await Wike In Rivers _Governor Amaechi

Rivers State Governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi,
has declared that the governor-elect, Chief
Nyesom Wike, was in for difficult times as there
would be no money to run the state.
He stated that Nigeria was lucky that Gen.
Muhammad Buhari won the presidential elections,
adding that his administration would bring the
nation out of its financial doldrums.
Amaechi spoke on Sunday in Port Harcourt at a
special thanksgiving service held by the Greater
Together Campaign Organisation (GTCO), the
campaign outfit of the Rivers All Progressives
Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr.
Dakuku Peterside.
The service, with the theme: ‘I will bless the
Lord,’ according to the organisers, was to
“Celebrate God’s faithfulness throughout the
electioneering period.”
Amaechi said: “God answered our prayers to save
us. He also answered our prayers to save
Nigeria. I’m not joking, we have no money
anywhere. In Rivers State, no money. I think
Nyesom Wike is coming, we are waiting. He will
look for money for salary; there is none. Luckily
for us, we endured these pains because we had to
pay our loans.
“We are enduring the pain because we are paying
our loans. Maybe he is lucky because we have
paid out a lot of our loans if not all. So, he will
have to manage. But when he pays out salary,
we will see if any of them can do what we did in
this state: whether they can build the schools, the
roads, even to get a loan.”
Amaechi also stated that no security operative
involved in electoral malpractice in the last
elections in the state would go unpunished.
He alleged that a newly promoted Commissioner
of Police, Mr. John Amadi, who served as Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP) in-charge of
Operations in the state, during the general
election, plotted to eliminate him.
His words: “I will say to all of you that there is a
man called John Amadi, former Deputy
Commissioner of Police, who sat down and ran a
programme to embarrass the APC and embarrass
the incoming federal government; even after
Buhari had won the presidency. Now, to
embarrass us further, I hear he has been
promoted to a Commissioner of Police and
transferred out of Port Harcourt. He will come
back. John Amadi will come back; you will see.
The only way he will not come back is if we don’t
form government, but if we form government, he
will account for his actions.
“After John Amadi, an Assistant Commissioner of
Police in Khana said it is mutiny to take on the
federal government, and sat down and fought APC
as if he was a PDP member. I don’t know
whether he has been promoted or not, but if he
has been promoted, he will also come back. That
one does not require a judge. The Inspector
General of Police (IG) can promote them as he
wants; he can even promote them up Assistant
Inspector-General of Police, but they must all
account for their actions.
“John Amadi intended to kill me and I will tell you
how. On my way to my village to go and vote, I
ran into some criminals attacking an APC member
and I stopped. I stopped with the intention to
rescue the gentle man and arrest those people, as
governor. I did not know that they had given
instruction to my own security not to obey me.
“So, when I told the policemen to arrest them,
they were just standing. On further inquiries, I
was told that we were told not to go anywhere
they were voting. When I asked the C4I to
reinforce security, John Amadi called them back
and asked them to leave there. The only thing
that saved me and saved the situation was that
the Brigade Commander sent in soldiers.
“The soldiers sent the criminals away and the
people were speaking my language saying,
‘somebody will die here now’ and who was that
somebody, other than me? My SSS men were
watching, my policemen were watching and my
life was at risk. I am supposed to be the governor
of Rivers State; the so-called Chief Security
Officer.”
The Rivers governor however recollected what he
went through in his quest, first to become the
Speaker of the state House of Assembly and,
later, the governor and declared that this was
another moment of trial for the state.
“The president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari,
is a man of rule of law. He will not punish
anybody without following due process. Let us
ask the incoming federal government to punish
whoever contravened the law.
“What is happening in Rivers State is not new;
this is another time of trial. Rivers people can
choose to pray and fast as we did when I was to
become the Speaker.
“This is the time to call God because without Him
we are going nowhere. I prayed and fasted for 10
months while in Ghana and God answered our
prayers.
“This time, though I will join in the fasting and
prayer but I am not the governorship candidate.
My own is to thank and appreciate God for what I
have become; from being a Speaker to governor
and now soon a retiree,” he said.
Also speaking, the APC governorship candidate in
the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in his testimony,
said he and his party faithful went through
political violence and turbulence during the
electioneering period and thanked God that the
casualty was minimal.
According to him, the party and its members,
from January, through the March 28 and April 11
elections, were visited with series of persecution,
and singled out Eleme, Tai and Okrika local
government areas as the places where the
casualties were mostly recorded.
Peterside however expressed optimism that the
elections tribunal would give judgment in his
favour.