Defiant Transportation Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, has again taken on former President Goodluck Jonathan, leaving him with a bloody nose this time.
Amaechi who carried himself as a loose cannon in the build-up to the 2015 presidential poll, says he has no regrets in working with President Muhammadu Buhari to throw Jonathan out of the Presidential Villa.
Amaechi is battling for the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2023 presidential ticket, and he has been saying that many Nigerian politicians do not understand the concept of loyalty.
According to him, “loyalty is not when you are not chosen, you become disloyal, loyalty means you follow the man that leads you that you have surrendered to his leadership.
‘’If you don’t follow, it means you are not loyal, you are only benefitting from the man politically and economically. The day he’s not able to give you that economic reality, is the day you become disloyal.’’
Storming Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital in continuation of his nationwide consultation drive, he took advantage of the 2022 Press Freedom Day celebration organised by the state Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists with the theme Journalism Under Surveillance to explained why he dumped Jonathan.
At the event which took place on Tuesday, the former Rivers State Governor (2007-2015) declared that though many labeled him a betrayer for not standing with Jonathan, a fellow Niger Deltan, he said hissupport for Buhari was for the survival of Nigeria.
He claimed that there were no strings attached to the support he gave Buhari, adding, “I did not give him any conditions.”
Ameachi, who also pointed out that Nigeria is broke, accused the Jonathan administration of wasting about $68 billion that the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo left behind.
The APC chief who is stoutly seeking President Buhari’s support as the preferred presidential aspirant, claimed that the Buhari administration inherited a paltry $2.5 billion from the Jonathan administration.
According to him, until Nigerians begins to hold every politician and office holder responsible the country will not go forward
Amaechi who was the special guest of honour at the event, declared that this is the time for Nigerians to vote for the right people and journalists have a responsibility to president all the candidates before the electorates to make a right choice.
The minister confessed that why the elites are agitating for restructuring “is because there is nothing to share. Nigeria is broke.”
“What worries me is the survival of Nigeria. I am worried to the extent that I begin to wonder if Nigerians know what the problem is’’, lamented Amaechi.
While averring that the problem of Nigeria is not the poor man but the elites, which include journalists, he boasted that he has been in government back to back for the past 23 years without a scandal, that is why no journalist can blackmail him.
“I have no scandal’’, Amaechi declared, while acknowledging that there are good and bad journalists, some bad ones blackmail people to the extent that their victims have to pay.
Before now at a consultative meeting with executives, delegates and other party faithful at the Rivers State APC secretariat on Friday, he indicated that in his bid to become the president of Nigeria which he is thoroughly qualified for, he is neither desperate nor disloyal.
“Let me tell you something about loyalty. In 2007, we were in a meeting and somebody asked me if Dr. Peter Odili (former Governor of Rivers State) says you will not run for the office of governor, what will you do?
‘’I said I will surrender and support whoever he brings. We fought the battle for me to be Governor because Dr. Odili called me and said ‘go to court,’ if not we had met as a group and said we would stand by his choice. But he called me and said ‘…go to court.’
“I am a very loyal person, and those who are disloyal, I wish them well, those who want to do whatever they want to do, I wish them well. The opportunity will be given to everybody, we will run this presidential election, we will run, and I am loyal to the President and I am loyal to the party.
‘’If the party says it is me, thank God. If the party says it is not me, whoever the party chooses, I will support. If the Party and President chooses anybody, I will support the person, if the party chooses me, I will be glad and say thank God’’, Amaechi said.
On his part, Chairman of the APC in Rivers, Emeka Beke, assured Amaechi of the party’s support and votes in the presidential primaries.
“Sir, go home and sleep, Rivers delegates will vote for you, and I know my brothers who are statutory delegates will vote for you, because all of us seated here today from Rivers State have benefitted from you, from your leadership and this is the time to pay you back. We will stand with you.”
“Let me use this opportunity to thank our brothers from other States, who have stood by our leader Amaechi, I thank all of you. God Almighty will stand with you as you have chosen to stand by him.
“But one thing I will tell you is that our leader is a man of one word. When he says yes, his yes is yes, when he says no, his no is no, and I know that he’s a man that will not forget all of you that stood by him. By the grace of God you will be the presidential flag bearer, I will be the chairman that will produce Mr President, I will be the Chairman that will produce Governor of Rivers’’, he said.
Amaechi also visited the Paramount ruler of Rebisi Kingdom in Port Harcourt, Eze Victor Woluchem, who expressed delight over the Minister of Transportation’s decision to run for the office of President in 2023.
Eze Woluchem said, “you are our son in whom we are well pleased. On behalf of the traditional rulers here present, we welcome you to your home. This is not only your home, but it is also your pride and joy, because you once served here as a governor who looked out for Rivers people, your people.”
“Your excellency, Rivers State loves you for a reason. Your developmental projects have impacted, and continue to impact our people and are all over the State for people to see.”
“I might not be able to enumerate all that you have done for this country. Nationally, as Minister of Transportation, you have put Nigeria on the map as a country with modern railway system, with modern Seaport and facilities to enhance our waterways and the industrialisation that comes with it.
“Indeed the history of this state will be incomplete without the mention of your name. Nigerians are excited over the likely possibility of an Amaechi presidency. You are indeed a champion among equals, therefore there is no doubt that you are the right person to take-over the mantle of the leadership of this great nation come 2023”, the monarch said.
