The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has stated that the immediate past Governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi, will be an asset, as a minister, to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Rivers APC, through its Chairman, Chief Davies Ikanya, yesterday in a statement in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, described Amaechi as the best choice for ministerial appointment from the state.
The party noted that President Buhari made the right decision by nominating the former Rivers governor for consideration by the Senate.
Rivers APC said: “Going by his antecedents, Rt. Hon. Amaechi will be an asset to the Buhari’s administration and a strong voice for Rivers State as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Mr. Ikanya also stated that APC members in the state were eagerly looking forward to the ministerial confirmation by the senators of Amaechi, who was the Director-General of the Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Organisation.
He said: “Judging Amaechi by the much he achieved as Governor of Rivers State, from education to proper management of the state’s resources, road construction, agriculture, security, tourism, transport, commerce, human development, among others, one can safely conclude that when he becomes a minister, he will do everything humanly possible to protect the interests of Rivers State and improve the lot of its people.
“Amaechi, as a first-class patriot, will fully collaborate with other members of the Federal Executive Council to make a big difference in the Buhari administration, thereby taking Nigeria out of the woods in which it found itself, as a result of 16 years of the visionless administration by the Peoples Democratic Party”.
The party also faulted Rivers Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, and his allies for opposing Amaechi’s ministerial nomination and working hard to scuttle his screening at the Senate.
Rivers APC said: “We are confident that wise counsel will prevail and the patriotic men and women that constitute the Nigerian Senate will ignore Wike and his machinations and confirm Amaechi on Tuesday, since Wike’s opposition is based solely on selfish reasons and his desire to prove that he can pull down the man who brought him out of obscurity and gave him the platform to become whatever he is politically today”.
However, Wike’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, said the governor should not be blamed for the travails of Amaechi.
Inko-Tariah insited that Amaechi was unfit to be made a minister, having allegedly mismanaged Rivers State’s funds and was unable to pay workers’ salaries as and when due, asking him to do the needful by first addressing the issues before accepting the ministerial nomination.
