The former Governor of Rivers state and now Minister for Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, has said that the current Governor of the state, Nyesom Wike is like a son to him.
Amaechi who denied any rift with Wike, despite the wide speculations of an existence of such between them, however added that he is rather baffled at the way Wike goes about his daily activities and life style without mentioning his (Amaechi’s) name.
Recall that just last month, in November, the security details of both men clashed in Rivers when both men came face-to-face at a junction, specifically, at Nwanja junction in Trans Amadi area in Port Harcourt, with reports and counter reports from both camps claiming either of them wanted to shoot, kidnap or assassinate the other.
A police officer had sustained wounds in that physical altercation.
However, appearing on Channels Television’s Question Time programme, the minister said there is no rift between him and Wike but only that Wike has failed to sustain the developmental strides he put in place while he was Governor of the state.
He also accused Wike of trying to discredit him in the face of the people of Rivers state.
According to Amaechi, “He (Wike) was my staff; he is like one of my sons,”
“Why should I engage him? He was local government chairman when I was the Speaker (of the State House of Assembly).”
“The governor has just one agenda – if he is in his toilet, ‘Amaechi’; if he is outside his toilet, ‘Amechi’… what baffles me is not the governor, it is the people.
“When I was governor, I used Rivers State’s money on projects in the state. If you visit the state, you will see the primary schools that we built. No matter what the governor does, the projects are there.
“I hired 13,200 teachers who are alive, I established primary schools, the primary schools are there. They are no longer maintained. When I was there, I appointed a contractor whose responsibility was to come to school like the children.”
