Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State has attacked Rotimi Amaechi, his predecessor and the immediate-past Minister of Transportation, accusing him of not attracting any project to the state while serving as a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Wike spoke on Thursday at the Government House, Port Harcourt while signing more contract agreements with a construction company, Julius Berger, including award of two new flyover projects.
The governor said: “What will the former minister (Amaecchi) tell them (Rivers voters) that he brought? I was a minister; as I sit here, I can count what I brought as Minster of State to Rivers. So, you were the main minister, of the lucrative ministry; what did you bring to Rivers?, Not one thing, not one.
“Now they removed you. You now want to come and bring somebody as governor. It will not happen. Rivers people will not take it. We won’t agree. God has been on our side and I know God will continue to be on our side.”
Wike stated that the PDP governorship candidate, Simi Fubara, is sure to succeed him and that other parties in line to contest against him were engaging in an exercise in futility.
The governor said, “It is certain Fubara is the next governor. He is taking over from me. It is PDP that will win the state. All who want to run in other parties I wish them bad luck. I don’t understand why they would want to waste their money on running for governorship in this state. What will they tell the people?”
On the latest Julius Berger contracts against the limited time left in his administration, Wike reiterated that he would transfer no liability to his successor either in shape of debt on loans taken by his administration or uncompleted projects.
He charged the contractor to ensure it completed the projects on schedule on the assurance to complete payments with a monthly N2 Billion release.
To the victorious Rivers United Football Club, Winners of the 2021/22 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), the governor announced a $20,000 cash reward and a Governor’s Medal Service Award (GMSA) for every team member as well as a two weeks trip to Madrid, Spain for the team as part preparation for the CAF Champions League.
Wike further assured the team to double the league victory’s cash reward for the Rivers United if the team scales through the knock out stages of the CAF Champions League.