FG Is Afraid The Security Helicopter We Bought Is For 2015 – Ameachi

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday denied reports that he had threatened to dump the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the 2015 elections, saying he had no plan to leave the party which is currently embroiled in an internal crisis.

Amaechi said this at the end of a meeting he had with Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said, “I am still in the PDP. I am a member of the PDP. PDP is the only national party in the country for now. Why will one want to leave a national party and go to another party?”

It was learnt that the Sambo-Amaechi meeting in the Villa on Thursday was to further feel the pulse of the governor and persuade him not to rock the boat for Jonathan in 2015.

While denying that he was nursing plans to leave the PDP, Amaechi also described as “mere mischief” the news reports that he had acquired four aircraft to run his own campaign for the 2015 race.

He said, “The truth is that, and the Federal Government is aware, they gave us approval to buy a helicopter to fly around Rivers State for the purpose of security and we have done that, we bought and we paid.

“Up till now, they have not allowed the helicopter to come in. Maybe they are afraid that it is for 2015. Please help us beg them on behalf of Rivers State that we need the aircraft to be able to secure the people of the state.

“Again, it is not within our control. It is in the control of the Nigerian Air Force. Although we will hire a civilian pilot but Nigerian security will manage it, not us.

“How will you use what is in the hands of Nigerian security to campaign? You see the mischief? The helicopter is to ensure that Rivers State is under watch for 24 hours. It has cameras, so if somebody is committing a crime, we are seeing it.

“The monitors are in the office of the Brigade Commander, office of the state director of SSS, office of the governor, office of the commissioner of police. So for Christ’s sake, tell me how you will use it for campaign.

“You can see a lot of mischief. As usual, people will try to dent your image to show that this man is not as transparent as he claims after all. We have argued about the first aircraft we bought, that is no longer a story. We did not buy two jets.”