Amaechi Names The Reason For His Disagreement With GEJ

Rotimi Amaechi

Rotimi Amaechi, the governor of Rivers state, has revealed that his disagreement with President Goodluck Jonathan was fueled in part by a meddlesome First Lady.

The Punch reports that the governor made his statement on Sunday, May 24, after the premiere of a documentary on the Amaechi years, at the Silverbird galleria in Abuja.

Amaechi said that Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party would have taken him to the cleaners, if they had found anything incriminating against him.

“We had a disagreement in principle between me and the president. Have you seen a country where the commissioner of police is reporting to the wife of the president? It’s in Rivers state.

“Have you seen a country where the brigade commander or the navy commander or air force commander is reporting to the wife of the president? It’s in Rivers state,” he said.

The governor stressed that the country should never go back to such dark days. According to him, public officers should learn to lead by the rules and not allow their spouses to interfere with their duties.

Amaechi further provided an example from his own life. He said that his wife knew her limits and he always told her she had no right to call any of his commissioners, because the people of Rivers state voted him into office but not her.

Amaechi challenged anyone who had doubts about his performance in office to go to Rivers state and see everything with their own eyes.According to the governor, everything he did in the state was not for self-promotion but was done to bequeath a legacy for successive administrations in the state to sustain.

However, he added that 90% of the people who worked with him betrayed him.

Amaechi took the opportunity to showcase his achievements in all sectors of the state economy, wondering why the federal government was presenting his administration in a bad light even when he spent N105bn on federal roads.

The governor also pointed out that he kept a proper account of his stewardship and the books were open for everyone to see. He added that it gave him the courage to sustain the struggle, and expressed hope that history would vindicate him in the end.

The documentary covering Amaechi’s years in office, featured his projects in the areas of security, agriculture, education, transportation, health and social development. However, Amaechi noted that the documentary left out some projects that he would love to have seen documented.

Meanwhile, the Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress has described the eight-year tenure of its governor as unmatched since the creation of the state in 1967. The party members also promised that Amaechi would leave office in a blaze of glory when his tenure ends on May 29.