The Governor of Rivers State, southern Nigeria, Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed that he incurred the wrath of President Goodluck Jonathan because he was seen to be exposing a lot of corrupt activities going on in government.
Amaechi also gave the impression that the President and his wife can never keep to their promises, recalling how they held several meetings with him begging him to deliver the state to Jonathan during the 2011 presidential election with the promise that they would never trouble him again, a promise they did not keep.
Governor Amaechi, who spoke exclusively with TheNEWS magazine, our sister publication, listed many instances where his actions infuriated President Jonathan and his wife, Patience, who he described as a de facto President.
First among the reasons for the battle to bring him down, according to Amaechi, is the desperate ambition of Dame Patience Jonathan to see herself and be addressed as the political ‘lord’ of Rivers State, her home state despite the fact that she is even not recognised by the constitution and is not occupying any elective office.
This seeming bottled-up anger culminated in the incident that occurred in Okrika, Patience’ hometown, in which she snatched the microphone from the governor and reprimanded him for saying he would buy off some buildings around a school and demolish it so as to create enough space for extracurricular activities for the school.
Governor Amaechi attributed the crisis to three things: “the first was the attempt by the wife of the President to control the Rivers State government. I remember when female senators came to me after she met with them.
“She said to them: ‘I am the highest ranking officer from Rivers State and I wonder why the Governor of Rivers State does not accord me that respect’.
“I said in law, I don’t see the office of the wife of the President being superior to that of the governor…The resistance is what you are seeing.”
During Jonathan’s campaigns for 2011, he said the President and his wife pleaded with him since he (Amaechi) wanted to be assured that if Jonathan emerged, there would not be a multiplicity of presidents where “you have the wife manipulating power, everybody doing one thing or the other.
“I wanted to make sure that I and the Rivers people are fully protected. I wasn’t convinced.
“Now, within the period, the President had called me and the wife and we sat together and made peace. There again, they promised that nobody would hurt me, nobody would do this or that. That’s why this is a bit difficult because there is nothing new that they can tell me that they did not tell me in 2011 and they did not keep to their promise”.
He said the meeting was just between him, the President and Mrs. Jonathan and he secured their promise to protect him, but “we had hardly won the 2011 elections when the wife descended on me and the Rivers State Government.
“Basically, the only way you can survive is if you then wake up in the morning to say: ‘Good morning, ma. My name is Rotimi Amaechi, governor of Rivers State. Do I greet this person or that person’?
“If she says no, then I don’t greet you. But if you need to run the office of the governor the way it is supposed to be run, then you would certainly have a disagreement with the wife of the President
“It is about power and control. She appears to be somebody who loves power.”
The governor also said part of the problem was that the President took about 41 oil wells from Rivers and handed them to Abia and Bayelsa, the President’s state.
He also said the President was not comfortable with the fact that he (Amaechi) speaks his mind whenever he had the opportunity.
For example, he said he had complained many times about the rising poverty and corruption among public office holders in the country to no avail even as the country’s economy is in bad shape.
Another incident that pitched Amaechi against the President was that the former accused the World Bank, during an event abroad, of aiding Nigeria’s lamentable corruption.
He also lamented the increasing activities of oil thieves, adding that attempts by his government to subdue the thieves have also been scuttled by the President because of the problem between them, thus making the country suffer the consequence.
“My colleague, the governor of Benue State, told me that teachers are on strike in his state because of salary. And you would see more in the next few months. The country is broke.
“The amount of money being stolen is enough to run this economy. They set aside 455,000 barrels per day for local refining. We don’t refine in Nigeria. Crude is refined overseas, brought back to Nigeria and then we pay subsidy on it,” he said.
The governor made a lot of other revelations as published in the current edition of the magazine.


http://www.osundefender.org/?p=131515

Abagworo:

He also lamented the increasing activities of oil thieves, adding that attempts by his government to subdue the thieves have also been scuttled by the President because of the problem between them, thus making the country suffer the consequence.
“My colleague, the governor of Benue State, told me that teachers are on strike in his state because of salary. And you would see more in the next few months. The country is broke.
“The amount of money being stolen is enough to run this economy. They set aside 455,000 barrels per day for local refining. We don’t refine in Nigeria. Crude is refined overseas, brought back to Nigeria and then we pay subsidy on it,” he said.


http://www.osundefender.org/?p=131515

The bolded is a serious allegation. Does it in any way suggest that the President is aiding and abating oil theft?

Nonsense, Ameachi is arrogant, I'm happy he was paid back in his own coin. He was just lording and intimidating sheepish Rivers people. Didn't he protest when Efcc went to investigate his officials and today he is anti corruption crusader. lol

Its hard to believe this write-up.

The retardeenic GEJ is the biggest error in Nigerian leadership Nigeria has ever made and will be forced to live through! I hope you folks are loving your fresh air and with many Nigerians having sold their soul for a piece of their own pie, you will suffer long in this slavery!

More can of worms opened.
The points Amaechi gave are very obvious to the discerning minds. Only proponents of corruption and irregularities (which are not hard to find on NL) will make attempt to discredit them. And they are always handy to please their patrons.

Abagworo:

The bolded is a serious allegation. Does it in any way suggest that the President is aiding and abating oil theft?

No it suggest's Tafa Balogun is aiding and abating oil theft. Stinky President, has now turned Niger-Delta from bad to worse....

Hope.At.Hand:
Its hard to believe this write-up.

i didn't understand what i read.

Is this publication an after thought, a gossip or village square deliberations?

Totally incomprehensible and unconvincing to say the least. I took time to put the clauses together in a bid to come up with a comprehensive message to no avail.

Waiting to hear Mrs Patience Jonathan's side of the story to see what & where Gov. Amaechi was driving to before I can conclude on what actually transpired.

Politicians are master dribblers believe them to your peril.

FreeGlobe: Nonsense, Ameachi is arrogant, I'm happy he was paid back in his own coin. He was just lording and intimidating sheepish Rivers people. Didn't he protest when Efcc went to investigate his officials and today he is anti corruption crusader. lol

by default, u are dumb!

When u try to feign intelligence, u sound dumber!

Av u noticed this too?

Anybody who doubts this write up can as well doubt if there is a God or you've not followed the crises from the start. If Governor Amaechi allows PEJ to control Rivers state as she is indeed controlling Bayelsa and Abia states, I can bet with my life that his rift with the Presidency will instantly become a thing of the past. As a matter of fact, about 85% of the revenue accruing from the 41oil wells that's being ceded to Abia and Bayelsa states belongs to the first lady and that's why they were given to those states to hold them in proxy for her since Governor Amaechi does not want to play ball as usual.
The Government is broke, no doubt, the looted funds are now greater than available funds for running of the economy.

.

We have gone from first lady not respecting me, Okrika waterfront properties, trying to take Rivers state PDP structure from me, Wike planing to upend the zoning arrangement for Rivers State gov's office, fighting against your political ambition, TO AMAECHI THE CORRUPTION CRUSADER.

Amara Chizulem