Rotimi Amaechi
Former Governor of Rivers State,
Rotimi Amaechi, has said his refusal to support ex-President Goodluck
Jonathan’s bid to secure the support of governors for an upward review
of subsidy payments was one of the reasons why they fell apart.
Amaechi also revealed that the former
President asked him not to seek re-election as the Chairman of the
Nigeria Governors’ Forum because of his principled stand against the
unjustified depletion of a common patrimony.
The former governor said this in Abuja, late on Sunday, at a dinner organised in his honour by his friends in Abuja.
The
Committee of Friends was chaired by ex-Bayelsa State governor, Timipre
Sylva. Others in the group included Senator Magnus Abe, Dakuku Peterside
and the governors of Plateau and Bauchi states, among others.
According to Amaechi, the former
President also presided over the taking away of oil wells belonging to
the people of Rivers State, a situation which adversely affected the
state’s revenue base.
He said, “When the trouble between me
and the former President started, as the Chairman of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum, the oil subsidy was N300bn under President Obasanjo.
It remained the same under Yar’Adua. Six months of President Goodluck
Jonathan, the oil subsidy rose to N1.9trn. Is it that the country now
doubled its population or bought more machines or started manufacturing?
“As the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’
Forum, I was in a position to get my own share of the N1.9trn, but I
chose the part of honesty and truth; you cannot catch me being
dishonest.”
The former governor also said, “There
was a time I walked into a meeting with the former President (Goodluck
Jonathan) and in the meeting, the argument was that they wanted more
money for oil subsidy. As the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, I
stood my ground and told the then President I was not going to support
that.
“He asked me why and I explained that we
are already in court with you on the issue of fuel subsidy. The
ex-President abused the hell out of my life. I have huge respect for the
President, but the only thing that made me disagree with him was on the
issue of the management of the country’s treasury.”
Amaechi challenged those who claimed
that he betrayed the South-South with his support for the All
Progressives Congress and President Muhammadu Buhari to tell the world
how former President Jonathan’s presidency benefited the region in
particular and Nigeria in general.
He pointed out that by his own
admission, the former President, while seeking re-election, appealed to
the people of the zone to give him a second chance because he did
nothing for them in his first term.
Amaechi also said the looting of the
nation’s treasury was done by people from all the geo-political zones,
but noted that the only thing was that it was presided over by a
President from the South-South.
He said the victory of the APC during
the last general elections was largely due to the fact that the party
had a good product in the person of Muhammadu Buhari to sell.
Amaechi said his successor, Nyesom Wike
and his supporters were trying very hard to dent his image because they
know that if he gets a federal appointment, it would change the politics
of the state.
In his remarks, Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo described Amaechi as a man of tremendous courage who stood up,
not just against former President Jonathan, but the entire
establishment.
He said, “Everyone agreed that the
Peoples Democratic Party was powerful and it would be difficult to
remove it from office, but one man stood up against the whole might of
the Federal Government, and today, we are celebrating the man and the
victory of our party because of what he did.
“Amaechi is also a man of big ideas and
very insightful. He understands how to live long in the hearts of men.
His education policies in Rivers State and all of those children he gave
real hope and opportunities will always be there. He will be remembered
long after he left this earth.”
Earlier, the Governor of Kaduna State,
Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, said the former Rivers State Governor was one
Nigerian who deserves all the accolades because of his detribalised
nature.
He explained that his decision to lead
four of his other colleagues to dump the PDP altered the equation,
because if only the four who were northerners left, it would have been a
case of northerners leaving the PDP “to join a northern party.”
source: punch
