By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has accused his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, of working for presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in the just concluded February 25, 2023 general elections.
Wike, a PDP governor, accused Amaechi, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), of betraying the Southern agenda by actively working for the presidency to remain in the North.
While Atiku of the main opposition PDP is a Northerner, the ruling APC and Labour Party (LP) had field southerners, Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi respectively, as their candidates in the election.
Wike and his PDP G-5 Governors (comprising Governors of Abia, Enugu, Benue, Oyo and Rivers) had refused to support Atiku in the election, demanding a power shift to the South.
Speaking over the weekend, Wike said while members of the G-5 worked for power to return to the South, Amaechi, who is soliciting for Igbo to support APC candidate in the March 18 Rivers gubernatorial election, Tonye Cole, mobilised votes for Atiku.
He spoke during an interactive meeting with Technical Dealers Association of Nigeria (TDAN), Computer Dealers Association (TDA), Garrison Phone Dealers Association (GPDA) and Building Materials Traders Association (BMTA) in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
“If Amaechi loves the Igbos, why did he not support Obi? Instead, he supported Atiku. He did not want power to return to the South because he lost APC ticket,” Wike noted.
The Governor said the reason why Amaechi was deliberately canvassing support for Tonye Cole was because he wanted to stall their ongoing prosecution for allegedly embezzling $50M from the Rivers State government coffers.
Wike urged Igbo in Rivers State to be wary of Amaechi, who served as Minister of Transportation for over seven years, but failed to revive eastern ports and railway lines from Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt.
The Governor claimed that when Amaechi was Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker, he vehemently opposed plans to compensate Igbo, who lost their property in the state during the civil war.
According to him, it is absolutely mischievous for Amaechi, who also served as Rivers State governor from 2007 to 2015, to wake up in 2023 to resurrect the issue of abandoned property “because of his inordinate political ambition.”
