• Enemies of the state will be disappointed, says Wike
By Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt
The Minister of Transportation and leader of Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has said the party is sure of winning in Ogoni land.
Speaking at a rally in Bera community in Gokana Local Government Area, Amaechi said winning in Ogoni and Rivers South East senatorial district had already been foreclosed considering the support the party enjoys in the district, adding that where the contest exists would be in Ikwerre and Ahoada areas.
“If there is one place that APC should win, it is Ogoni. But Wike says he must win here. He is not God and since he is not God, he will fail. The battle is not here at all. The battle is in Ikwerre and Ahoada axis. So, he had better forget here.”
The former governor said the support of the district stemmed from both developmental projects he sited in the area and appointments given to sons and daughters in the area while he was governor.
He, therefore, charged Wike to equal his achievements in Ogoni land or supersede them.
Explaining further, Amaechi reminisced the number of indigent persons in the area given scholarships to study abroad while he was governor but were heartlessly repatriated by Wike.
“He could not take your children to school overseas. Instead of taking them there, he returned them to Nigeria. Poor innocent children, poor children of poor families.”
The minister urged the people to turnout en masse to vote for APC, assuring them of protection against threats from the governor, adding that the governor’s threats should not be ignored as his utterances and actions depict him as a thug capable of doing anything.
“It is only a thug that can stand in front of a judge’s gate and be struggling with security men. A governor will go back to his house and call the president. When the DSS invaded the Presidential lodge of the Akwa State government house, the governor didn’t go to the gate. He called the president. And they were asked to return to Abuja. Instead of this one to call the president, what did he do? Go and fight. Only a thug can do that. In all the fight I had with the federal government with former President Goodluck Jonathan, nobody saw me physically battling with anybody. When I became governor, there were so many people appointed by Governor Odili. There were so many businesses by Odili’s people. Did I stop any? No. Wike doesn’t know what it is to govern.”
Amaechi stated that although Wike could talk tough but inwardly was a coward.
He berated Wike for rewarding criminals who helped him to rig the elections thereby jeopardising the security of the state.
Earlier, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, the APC candidate for Rivers South East senatorial district in the legislative re-run elections, commended the people for their large turnout over a short notice for the campaign rally.
Abe who spoke on behalf of all APC candidates in the district, narrated how the Ogoni had struggled against environmental degradation and marginalisation of the people without any avail.
He, however, said God had used President Buhari and the minister to begin the addressing of 21 years of the Ogoni struggle by the appointment of their son to the top management of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as well as the clean up of Ogoni land.
“Twenty-one years ago, late Ken Saro-Wiwa was hung because he was asking that Ogoni land has been polluted and should be cleaned up. For 21 years, we have been crying, writing petitions, holding vigils, going to meetings, doing everything. Even when our own son was president, we did not get any help. Today, because of APC, President Buhari and Amaechi that thing that we were all crying for is today happening.”
The former Secretary to Rivers State Government stated that the people have future in APC, assuring them that more are yet to come.
In his own speech, Chief Derek Mene, the Executive Director, Finance and Administration (EDFA), NDDC, enjoined Ogoni people to support APC because of their interest, pointing out that the support for APC is a movement rather than partisan consideration.
Also, in his speech, Hon. Oji Ngofa, an ambassadorial nominee, said the opponent of Senator Abe, Mr. Olaka Nwogu was no match to Abe and had not contributed anything meaningful to the development of Eleme Local Government Area.
“The consideration for voting in the forthcoming re-run elections, we as a people we have no option. I have said it severally and I will say it again. Progressives politics is propelled by love and development. Where the opponent comes from, all he has done in the 15 years in the House of Representatives is to underdeveloped Eleme.”
Ngofa urged the people to vote massively for Abe in the forthcoming re-run elections.
However, Wike has stated that the enemies of the state will be disappointed after the rerun elections on December 10, 2016 despite their negative plots against the state.
Speaking during the 2016 Super Sunday Service of the Christ Apostolic Church at Emohua, the governor noted that the enemies of the state are working hard to stoke violence in areas where the rerun elections will hold.
He said: “I have to come to formally report to God that the enemies of the state are back. The way they were humiliated in 2015 and March 19, 2016 is the way they would be humiliated on December 10, 2016.
“Pray for peace in the forthcoming rerun elections in the state.”
The governor said the resources of Rivers State will always be used for the good of Rivers people.
“Never again will Rivers resources be used to sponsor national politics. We will not take our money to play national politics,” he said.
The governo added: “Rivers is a Christian state and we owe nobody an apology for that. I want to reiterate our commitment to setting up a special intervention fund for churches to take care of their members who are in need.
“At present, church leaders are fine tuning the details for this special fund, which we believe will further unite the church.”
The governor said State Ecumenical Centre would be ready for the state’s 50th anniversary by next year, while the Government House Chapel would be dedicated by December, 2016.
In his address, Chairman of the Port Harcourt Conference of the Christ Apostolic Church, Pastor GC Onuigbo urged the governor to sustain his development programmes.
He also called on the governor to carry all the people of the state along irrespective of their political affiliation.
Guest preacher, Pastor Ayo Ezekiel, described Wike as a man of destiny who has been positioned by God to rebuild the state.
The highpoints of the Super Sunday Service were the special prayers for Wike, Rivers State and Nigeria.
