By Chuks Onyema-Aziken, Abuja
The Minister of Transport and All Progressives Congress (APC) a�Zleader in Rivers State, Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, appears to have added security chiefs among his growing list of antagonists.
Amaechi, who was governor of the state between 2007 and 2015, is locked in a bitter political war with his successor, Governor Nyesom Wike, who not only served as his Chief of Staff, but, in 2011, headed his re-election campaign organisation.
At an APC rally penultimate weekend in Bori, the heart of Ogoni, Amaechi caused a stir when he accused security chiefs in and outside the state of working for Wike, his political rival.
“When I was governor,” Amaechi told the gathering, “security officers used to cover their faces with Fez caps and sneak into Port Harcourt in taxis so that they won’t have anything to do with me as governor”.
He continued, “However, what we have today is a case where the people in whose hands we entrust our security a�Zare passing information of our activities to the governor”.
The AUTHORITY gathered that Amaechi’s comments at the rally, which was held about the same time Senator Magnus Abe was holding a thanksgiving service in Port Harcourt, greatly unsettled the heads of security agencies in Abuja.
At Abe’s thanksgiving service was Amaechia��s political arch-rival, Wike, Senate President Bukola Saraki, principal officers of the Senate, as well as scores of senators.
A source close to one of the security heads told The AUTHORITY that the minister’s comments were “most uncharitable and unbecoming of a man who has held the position of governor”.
He said: “If the Hon. Minister has issues with people, he should seek ways of resolving them, not looking for people to force into the mix. My boss is a professional security operative, not a politician.
“This is a man who is fighting everybody in Rivers State. He is at war with the governor, Senator Magnus Abe, Ibim Semenitari (former NDDC boss), NIMASA boss Dakuku Peterside, State APC chairman, his former commissioners and aides, in short, with his own shadow,” the officila said.
He noted that “if the minister’s allegations were meant to blackmail my boss into sacrificing professionalism on the altar of political expediency, he is dead wrong,” stressing that “no security man who does the bidding of a politician ends well.”
Efforts to get Amaechi”s spokesman, David Iyofora��s reaction on the matter were unsuccessful.
Rivers' Political Crisis: Amaechi's comments angers security chiefs
