Wike, Amaechi in verbal war ahead polls

The Minister of Transport and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, declared yesterday that more Rivers people will die if the state governor and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nyesom Wike, gets a second term.

Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, urged the people of the state not to cast their votes for Wike, his former Chief of Staff, accusing him of sponsoring many killings in Rivers, which, according to him, was an indication that the incumbent governor never cared about the security of the lives and property of the residents of the state.

Amaechi stated these in his Port Harcourt residence while receiving a visiting delegation of the British High Commission to Nigeria ahead of today’s governorship and House of Assembly elections.

In an interactive session with members of the party in Eleme on March 6, Amaechi, who is the leader of APC in the state and the Southsouth zone, had announced after a crucial meeting of Rivers stakeholders of APC, that they had agreed to back the governorship candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Biokpomabo Awara, an engineer and native of Kula-Kalabari, a riverine community in Akuku-Toru LGA of the state.

On his part, Wike, a former Minister of State for Education, in a statewide broadcast, urged Rivers people to vote for candidates of their choice today.

But he accused his former benefactor (Amaechi) and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham, of planning to unleash mayhem in the state during the elections; an allegation both of them denied, describing Wike as a propagandist and a blackmailer.

Amaechi, during yesterday’s meeting with the delegation of the British High Commission to Nigeria, said: “All Wike has done so far is killings, and he does not care about the lives of the people.

“If Wike gets a second term, more people will die. The man is blood thirsty and he wants to kill us because of his second term ambition, for the simple reason of milking the treasury of the state dry, without considering what happens to the ordinary Rivers people.

“Stealing is in his blood.

“I wonder why Wike will be crying foul about the presence of military men in Rivers State instead of joining forces to encourage them to beef up security in the state.

“The general elections of 2015 cannot in any way be compared with the 2019 polls in terms of the security situation in Rivers State.

“Wike and his PDP members would have preferred the elections of 2015 where thugs overwhelmed the state and unleashed terror on innocent Rivers people, resulting in the loss of so many lives and destruction of valuable property across the state.

“Even my cousin was killed in front of Wike’s father’s house in Port Harcourt.”

Amaechi also stated that with the presence of the military personnel in Rivers state for today’s elections, everybody, including the APC and PDP members, would be adequately protected.

He revealed that the plan of the Rivers governor was to see the total withdrawal of military men from Rivers for him and his thugs to have a field day to kill APC members as they did in the previous elections.

The Minister of Transportation said: “You are aware that PDP’s thugs killed four APC members in Andoni LGA of the National Chairman of PDP (Prince Uche Aecondus), beheaded them and took away their bodies.

“When I was the Governor of Rivers State, I gave people assurances that my life is as important as their own lives.”

On his choice of endorsing the governorship candidate of AAC in today’s election, Amaechi said: “My party is not on the ballot for tomorrow’s (today’s) election, and you know that I have the right to vote. That is why I will vote for the governorship candidate of AAC.”

The head of the delegation, Louis Edwards, had earlier said that they were in Port Harcourt to support free, fair and credible elections.

Edwards disclosed that they had earlier engaged some stakeholders, including politicians, security chiefs and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the need for peaceful polls in Rivers State today.