Amaechi spent N30bn on Buhari –Wike

Former Minister of State for Education
and Rivers State governorship flag bearer
of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Nyesom Wike, has accused Governor
Chibuike Amaechi of spending a
whopping N30 billion on General
Muhammadu Buhari campaign to be All
Progressives Congress (APC) presidential
candidate.
Besides, he said Amaechi was deceived
by the leadership of the APC to spend the
state fund on Buhari, in the hope that he
would be chosen as the vice presidential
candidate.
He attributed the alleged non-payment of
salaries of civil servants in the state to the
funding of the party by the governor.
Wike stated this yesterday at a “thank-
you” visit to the people of Ikwerre held in
Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area
of the state.
He said: “Do you know why workers’
salaries have not been paid? Amaechi
spent N30 billion in funding the
presidential campaign of the APC. They
allowed him to spend the money and
later, they called him mugu.
“They said we would not make this ‘boy’
who does not respect the president
(Jonathan) the vice president. We should
know that our future is in the PDP and
not the APC.”
But, the state government, through the
Commissioner for Information and
Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari,
has debunked the allegation of Amaechi
funding Buhari.
She described the claim as baseless and
false, saying Wike should provide proof to
back his statement.
Semenitari stated: “It is unbelievable that
a man who wants to be the governor of
this state can make such an unbelievable
statement without any proof.
“We challenge him (Wike) to show proof
that Governor Amaechi spent N30 billion
to fund APC campaign.
“There are some things that are
unbelievable. With what President
Jonathan is giving us, N30 billion is three
months allocation. Is that what he (Wike)
is saying that we used for primary? Rivers
State Government will not dignify such
unintelligent talk with responses. We will
not respond to unintelligent talk; we will
not react to stupid conjecturing.”
Wike, while expressing gratitude to
Ikwerre people for endorsing him to run
for the gubernatorial slot, disclosed that
the PDP had chosen a woman to be his
running mate, adding that she would be
unveiled on Tuesday. He urged Ikwerre
people to vote for President Goodluck
Jonathan, saying APC was not the hope
of Nigerians.
He said: “We are getting women involved
in decision making of the state. The
campaign is now for women to take to the
next level. We have gone beyond the stage
of just sharing wrapper to women as
empowerment. This is a new era in Rivers
State. The fate of Rivers people does not
lie in the opposition APC. We are for the
PDP all the way”
The governorship flag bearer stated that
the legacies Governor Amaechi-led
government had bequeathed to Rivers
people were closure of the judiciary,
House of Assembly, monorail and the N50
billion Karibi-Whyte Hospital.
Wike promised the people that, if voted as
governor in 2015, he would review the
economic value of their lands acquired by
the state government for the Greater Port
Harcourt City (GPH) project.
He urged the people to remain vigilant,
alleging that APC was sewing fake police
uniforms in an attempt to rig the 2015
elections. Wike charged the people to
resist any attempt to compromise the
electoral process by the APC.
A PDP chieftain in Ikwerre Local
Government Area, Ernest Wosu, regretted
that Amaechi failed the people, hence the
decision to support a politician with a
pedigree.