Gov. Amaechi to Pay for “Sins” After Office-Presidency

President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday accused Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State of misappropriating funds belonging to the state while warning him against “reckless and irresponsible” comments aimed at blackmailing the Presidency and inciting Nigerians against the government.

The Presidency came down hard on the governor following some allegations he made against President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, on Saturday.

While speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) mega rally held in Port Harcourt, Amaechi had, among other allegations, accused Jonathan of not implementing any project in the state and that the President had encouraged corruption as well as meddling in Rivers State’s internal affairs.

The President reminded him of possible repercussions for his current actions when he is shred of gubernatorial immunity after leaving office next year.

Reuben Abati, special adviser to Jonathan on Media and Publicity, said that the governor had crossed the red line in his selfish political agenda by resorting to libel, blackmail, incitement and immoral, baseless falsehood against the President, the First Lady and the Federal Government.

Abati said the Presidency was aware that Amaechi had squandered the resources of Rivers State on dubious projects, but warned that “a day of reckoning will surely come when he will answer for all his actions and false allegations against President Jonathan, the First Lady and the Federal Government.”

The Presidency further asked Amaechi to stop trying to make Jonathan a scape-goat in a bid to cover up his failings as governor of Rivers State for eight years.

The statement reads: “Governor Rotimi Amaechi took his obnoxious willingness to denigrate the highest office in the land in a reckless bid to advance his selfish political interests to a new level of irresponsible and rascally behaviour yesterday in Port Harcourt with his totally false and baseless vituperations against President Jonathan, the First Lady and the Federal Government.

“It appears from the Governor’s completely unfounded and off-the-mark allegations that he had totally lost all sense of propriety, decorum and responsible political behaviour and resorted to unacceptable demagoguery, libel, blackmail and incitement of public disorder.

“Unless his unbridled ambition and desire for self- promotion have completely befuddled his mental faculties and caused him to totally lose touch with reality, Governor Amaechi must know that his claims and allegations are untrue.

“We can only assume therefore that he is deliberately spewing malicious falsehood in a desperate effort to incite the people of Rivers State and Nigeria against his assumed political foes.

“We warn him that there are legal, constitutional and moral limits to political rascality beyond which he will not be allowed to go without repercussions.

“The immunity which he currently enjoys notwithstanding, Governor Amaechi should be under no illusions:  A day of reckoning will surely come when he will answer for all his actions and false allegations against President Jonathan, the First Lady and the Federal Government.

“He should also know that Nigerians are aware of the truth and will never be fooled or swayed by his arrant opportunism and anti-Jonathan rantings.

“Nigerians know that while Mr. Amaechi falsely accuses others of corruption, he cannot show or explain to the people of Rivers State what he has done with the billions of Naira that has accrued to the state under his tenure.

“They also know that while Amaechi continues to falsely accuse the Jonathan Administration of having done nothing for Rivers State, he has recklessly squandered huge state resources on dubious, vain-glorious projects or self-aggrandizement.

“Nigerians will know too that while he falsely alleges that Rivers and other states have not received funds due to them from the Federation account, the only outstanding allocation was for September, which was released to all states well over a week ago.

“The Governor should stop trying to make President Jonathan the scapegoat for his woeful performance in Rivers State and look to his own very apparent failings and incompetence.

“He should also stop blackmailing the First Lady who has demanded nothing from him other than good governance, justice, equity, fairness, real development and progress in Rivers State.”

In another development, Governor Seriake Dickson has declared that the politics of Bayelsa State was characterised by treachery, disloyalty and pull-him-down syndrome before the emergence of the present administration.

Dickson buttressed his observation on the state’s divisive politics, saying that the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party usually gets factionalised three months after any sitting governor sets up a political structure.

“For those of you who have been involved in the politics of this state for sometime, you know that in Bayelsa, immediately a governor sets up any structure because of the essential divisive nature of politics in this state before now, two or three months down the line, you will see the party factionalised.

“Let no one’s personal ambition be too big for the stability of our state,” he cautioned.