Those I helped into offices now backstab me - Amaechi

RIVERS State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has said those he had helped in the past to get into position have used same offices to backstab him.

Amaechi, speaking at the 60th birthday celebration of former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Onueze Chukwujinka Joe Okocha, in Port Harcourt, said the man leading the opposition against him in the state, the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, was his nominee for ministerial slot for the state.

The governor, who was responding to the query from the Bishop of the Anglican Communion, Niger Delta Diocese, Archbishop Ignatius Kattey, who raised issues surrounding the political crisis in the state, said he would be talking about Wike for the first and the last time, as he was not of so much consequence to him.

“His grace, this will be the first time I will be talking about my former Chief of Staff in the public. My former Chief of Staff is too small for me to talk about, I don’t want to discuss him and I have never done that before. Today will be my first and last day.

“You know, there are different types of men. I hope you know that there are men with character and there are men without character. And you know I have character. I don’t believe that money can solve all problems and I don’t worship money, my greatest fear is that where am I going to, after here on earth. Let me also tell you that I have been betrayed severally in politics and majority of those who betrayed me are from my Ikwerre ethnic group.

“Before I became a speaker, we were crying, we wanted governor, we wanted this and that and the last ministerial appointment was Chief Emmanuel Aguma, a long time ago, and that was the last Ikwerre ministerial appointment. I became speaker and through the grace of God, I got the deputy speaker seat in the House of Representatives to an Ikwerre son (Austin Opara), all with my sweat, I struggled for it,” he said.

According to him, when it was time for Opara to support him, he, instead, betrayed him

“Again, you can ask the president, I submitted his name (Wike) as minister, where is he now? I, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi submitted his name (Wike) as minister to President Jonathan. But where is he now? You must have character, you must be known for something,” he added.

Speaking on the crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Amaechi said a credible election was held where the governors exercised their franchise and re-elected him as chairman of the forum.

“There was an election. They are not denying that there was election, they said, before the election, some governors had signed documents for them and they were 19 in number, and we conducted election, eventually, the 19 governors later changed their minds and voted for me.

“As a man of God (referring to Bishop Kattey), now that you know, please tell the other Bishops and men of God so that I don’t have to be responding to these questions in public, if there was election or not,” Amaechi said.

He also warned that nobody should give him conditions on matters relating to the Obio/Akpor local council executive suspension, adding that he was waiting for the final determination of the court on whether the state House of Assembly should be allowed to perform its constitutional functions or not.

“It is within the powers of the state House of Assembly to suspend the chairman of Obio/Akpor council. The same constitution gave me the powers to dissolve Obio/Akpor, but I have not done that.

“The state House of Assembly suspended the Obio/Akpor council chairman and the councillors, which is within its lawful functions. The reason for which they were suspended was corruption, so allow the assembly to investigate.

“If they investigate and the chairman and councillors are not found corrupt, they will call them back. And no court can say the assembly members have no right to carry out their lawful functions.

“However, whatever the court says, the Rivers State government will obey. But outside that, PDP or anybody cannot give me any condition on Obio/Akpor council,” Amaechi said.

He also called on the people of the state to choose credible candidates during elections, reminding them of the incidents of 2005 and 2006, where militancy and kidnapping metamorphosed into breakdown of law and order in the state.

Amaechi further maintained that he would remain committed to the vision of his administration, to provide accountable and transparent stewardship anchored on integrity and good governance.

He also disclosed that his administration had named the new Model Secondary School built at Okehi, in Etche Local Government Area of the state after Archbishop Ignatius Kattey.