"Why they are after me" –Governor Rotimi Amaechi

Rivers State Gov­ernor, Chibuike Amaechi, yes­terday explained why he became the target of opposition from some politicians within and out­side the state.

Speaking at Oro Igwe community during a meet-the-people tour of commu­nities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state, Amaechi said most of the people opposed to him were those he assisted in one way or the other includ­ing contract awards, but they failed to deliver.


He said: “If you check Obio/Akpor, you will see how many persons that have grown through me. Almost 80 per cent of those fighting me today are people, who I have given billions of naira in contracts and they have put the money in their pock­ets. They did not deliver and they claim they are Ikwerre people.

“I have said that the road at Eneka was given to an Obio/Akpor son. The internal road at Rumuolumeni was given to a Rumuolumeni son. They gave it to one of Obio/Akpor sons to do. They have not done it. They have no fear, no shame. You know, the worst money to steal is the money belonging to your people.”

Governor Amaechi told the people that he had im­pacted on his people, even as an aide to former governor, Chief Rufus George.

He said: “For me, go and check Ubima Road. As an ordinary Special Assistant to Chief Rufus George, the money he brought, we did the Ubima Road and when I became speaker, I got Dr. Odili to do the road and the road lasted until I became governor.

“I did not touch Ubima money. I did not say ‘I want to be a big man, contractor, give me N40 million first’. The first road to Ubima was N40 million. One kobo, I did not see. All the roads in Ru­muepirikom were done by this administration. I gave the contracts to your son and paid 100 per cent. But almost all the roads there have gone bad and they are not major traffic route. It is because of greed.

“As an Ikwerre man, what else can I do? Please tell me what else you want me to do that I have not done? I just did not do the road, I gave it to Ikwerre people to go and do. If you are not a good con­tractor, you look for the good contractor to do for you, is it not?

“Now, you are not a good contractor, you don’t want to go and hire a good contractor, you just buy one payloader and you begin to scratch the ground.”

He thanked the people of Oro-Igwe for the opportu­nity of meeting with them and urged them to beware of those who would be dishon­est or betray people for self­ish reasons.

“Nobody should come here and lie to you. They are careless at talking. They lie a lot. Ask them, as speaker for eight years, governor for sev­en years, they should show you my property. They are buying people’s land all over, buying people’s properties all over, building houses without fear.”