2nd October, 2014
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers state has explained that his frosty relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan is not personal because the president has not reciprocated any gesture for the high number of votes he garnered from the state by citing developmental projects in the state.
Amaechi said the federal government under Jonathan has not executed any tangible developmental project in the state.
“President Jonathan is my president and president of all Nigerians. He should not be a president of PDP. He grew up in this state, schooled at the University of Port Harcourt, taught in the college of Education in Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, and he married our daughter but not one project has he cited in UNIPORT. As a Speaker of House of Assembly I executed a project in the English Department. But let the president name what he has executed?” he quizzed.
Governor Amaechi who appeared on Rhythm 93.7 fm in Port Harcourt as part of Nigeria’s 54th independence anniversary on Wednesday said the president hates Rivers people.
Amaechi said he had approached the president that he should give approval for Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, Bonny to start its ‘Train Seven’ expansion that would create about 10,000 jobs for our youths. “To my surprise, he refused and said he wants the NLNG Brass in Bayelsa state to be completed first. He simply does not like Rivers people.”
When reminded that the federal government had sent 500million each to Rivers’ state tertiary institutions, the Governor explained that what was allocated to Rivers institutions by Federal government was nothing special to Rivers but an assistance to state schools. He insisted that what he is talking about are infrastructural projects started and executed by the Federal government.
A caller asked him why some road projects have been abandoned in the state. “The revenue from the federal government has dwindled from 25 billion naira to 12 Billion naira monthly yet the state has a wage bill obligation to about 54,000 workers who are highest paid in country,” Amaechi said.
He said that contrary to the propaganda bandied about that the state may be plunged into huge debt, the governor explained that his administration is meeting its financial obligations to creditors and would not leave debt to incoming government.
He said he is still looking for money to complete all projects started by his administration.
On why the logjam over who becomes the state Chief Judge of the state and the inability of the judiciary to perform its constitutional role, he said: “The problem lies with a former President, Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Onueze Okocha, (SAN) who allegedly used his privileged membership of the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to try and foist his elder sister, Justice Daisy Okocha, on the state as the Chief Judge even when a court order disqualified her,” he explained.
“NJC does not have powers under the law to appoint a Chief Judge for the state. It can only recommend and as the governor I have the right to accept its recommendations or reject. And in Justice Daisy Okocha’s case, I rejected it. The law says that if I reject, I should write back to the NJC and I have written to them.”