Accept your political loss, Wike tells Amaechi, APC

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has urged his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, to accept the reality that his party lost the March 19 rerun and allow the government to focus on rebuilding the state.

The governor said the task to revive the state was enormous, following the alleged failure of the last administration to develop the state with the N3 trillion it made.

Wike spoke yesterday at the opening of a retreat on strengthening capacity, efficiency and service delivery for sustainable development organised for top government officials at Onne Multi-Purpose Centre.

He said: “I call on the former governor and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to accept the reality that the rerun has been lost by his party and that Rivers people have, again, reaffirmed their confidence, trust and preference for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Therefore, spare us the agony of unnecessary hostility and allow Rivers State to move forward in peace and security. We expect you to use your high office and connections to attract meaningful development projects to the state, as I did during my time; not senseless and unpatriotic distraction. Enough is enough.


“All of us are aware of the sorry state of things in Rivers State before May 29, 2015. Between October 25, 2007 and May 28, 2015, over N3 trillion accrued from revenue sources to the state. Yet, they did nothing tangible with that money to develop the state. Instead, they squandered and diverted most of this money into private pockets through bogus and ill-fated projects.”

The governor said major key projects of the Amaechi administration were either abandoned or unexecuted.

He said: “Let’s briefly look at the records, since they live in denial. The visible projects initiated by former Governor Amaechi during his eight years in office include: the Karibi Whyte Mega Hospital, the Greater Port Harcourt Project, the new Rivers State University and the RSSDA overseas scholarship scheme.

“(Others are): The mosquitoes eradication scheme, the Adokiye Amiesemaka Stadium, the 500 primary schools project, the 23 mega-secondary schools, the ill-fated less than 1.5-kilometre monorail project and the dualisation of some inner city roads.

“However, none of these projects was realised before they left office, despite spending billions and billions of naira on them. For example, the Karibi Whyte Hospital was not just abandoned at the foundation stage, it turned out to be a big scam on Rivers people. The Greater Port Harcourt project existed mainly on paper without any tangible progress. The Adokye Amiesimaka stadium was abandoned half completed, while not even a stone was laid for the proposed new Rivers State University.

“Furthermore, the mosquito eradication project was another huge scam, just as the secondary school and overseas scholarships scheme were misconceived, fraudulent and unsustainable. In addition, they sold off three of the state’s four independent power plants initiated by Governor Peter Odili’s administration to cronies and diverted the proceeds to private ends. The narrative is not different in their much-flaunted education and health projects. Their project audit before they left office showed that of 498 primary schools they initiated, only 116 were completed and the rest abandoned.

“Similarly, of the 23-mega secondary schools they initiated, only one was completed; the rest were abandoned. Throughout the eight years, no public secondary school was rehabilitated; all general hospitals were wilfully abandoned to rot and decay. I challenge the former governor to controvert these facts in a public debate.”