The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has alleged that Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State remains the main problem of the state.
Deputy National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, who stated this at a press briefing in Abuja on Saturday, accused the governor of shutting down the courts and also taking total control of the State House of Assembly, actions he said were being resisted by the people of the state.
Secondus was reacting to the crisis in Okrika, where hoodlums suspected to the members of the PDP disrupted the governorship rally organised by the All Progressives Congress.
He further accused the governor of using the state’s resources to fund the presidential campaign of the APC.
Secondus said, “The crisis in Rivers State is Amaechi. You journalists should investigate. He shut down the courts. He shut down the state assembly and he is now the sole administrator and maximum leader and the people are resisting.
“Salaries aren’t paid as at when due, the state fund being taken away to sponsor the presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhhamadu Buhari. Our jet now is owned by Buhari. Where in this world is it done that people are happy?
“Therefore, all the news of crisis is being generated by Amaechi, because he has lost the state and he sustains himself on the pages of newspapers. Amaechi is the problem.”
He insisted that the crisis in Okrika was between factions of the APC in the state.
He added, “The Okrika matter that you talked about was APC versus APC, but Amaechi is orchestrating it as if it was the PDP and he is even bringing the name of the wife of the President.”
On the call by the APC that the Court of Appeal judgment be respected concerning the deployment of soldiers for elections, Secondus argued that soldiers were never used for elections but were usually deployed for logistics.
He said, “It isn’t new, it has been done before. Soldiers aren’t involved in elections but they are kept in strategic places to safeguard the nation.”
Reacting, Amaechi explained that Rivers State money was intact and challenged Secondus to show any proof that he was using Rivers money to fund Buhari’s campaign.
Amaechi’s who spoke through his Chief of Staff, Tony Okocha, said, “Apart from the fact that the allegation is spurious and illogical, Secondus is speaking out of ignorance.
“He (Secondus) cannot say that Amaechi is spending Rivers money on Buhari’s campaign because the governor is the Director General of the Buhari campaign organisation. The allegation is not only spurious, it is illogical.
“Remember that he (Amaechi) is the only politician that has been a Speaker of the House for eight years and currently holds the position of a governor without having a house. Secondus’ allegation cannot be substantiated.”
Amaechi, however, stated that the PDP chieftain’s aim was to malign his person, adding that Secondus would have been sued for libel in developed countries for making statements that were unsubstantiated.
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