Rivers State Governor has stated that he left the Peoples Democratic Party in order to protect the economic interest of the people of Rivers State. He said President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP government were victimizing and frustrating his efforts in the state.
The Governor spoke at an interactive session with doctors in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Amaechi said one of such harassments was the ceding of Soku oil wells to Bayelsa, a move he contested in court.
He said, “Legally, we have not lost Soku (oil wells). We have just lost Soku to the fact that the president is from Bayelsa. When a president that is not from Bayelsa comes, he will look at the facts and the facts are there.”
He added, “So, for Rivers State, basically, that is the cause of the quarrel and you have a choice to make. The choice for me, if you ask me to advise you, is to vote out PDP and there is no sentiment about that.”
”The Federal Government, in writing in the court, said to the court: ‘sorry, court, we made a mistake; we will correct the mistake’ and we have told the Federal Government: ‘don’t call us for a meeting; go and correct that mistake. How could you people wake up in 2011… suddenly changed the map of Nigeria and take Soku into Bayelsa State?”
He also cited the Bonny link road as one of the many abandoned Federal projects in the state due to his perceived quarrel with President Jonathan.
He said: “That road to Bonny was awarded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. They started; they have done just one bridge. The road has been abandoned. Yar’Adua tried to restart it, but he stopped.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has forgotten about that road completely, despite the fact that part of the money that feeds the Nigerian economy comes from that place, Bonny. That’s where you have the natural gas plant.”
Buttressing his point on the World Bank loan to provide Rivers State people with potable water a loan being delayed by the Ministr of Finance, Okonjo Iweala.
Amaechi said: “I will start from water. We got African Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank to give us a loan, for which we will pay 0.4 per cent for 40 years, which is a wonderful loan and we planned to give Port Harcourt people water first.
”If everybody in Rivers State is drinking (potable) water that will reduce the number of patients that go to Braithwaite Memorial Hospital or any other hospital. World Bank agreed; Federal Government agreed; ADB agreed. They said, ‘go and do due process’. We have finished due process. What is remaining is for the Minister of Finance to just sign off.
”In fact, you know, like I tell people, I have no appetite for money, they can award the contract to whoever they want; all I want is water, because that will impact on other sectors of the Rivers State economy. ‘Oh, you are quarrelling with the President, we will not sign’; that is why they have not signed.
”Should the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that schooled in the University of Port Harcourt, worked at OMPADEC, Ministry of Education, University of Education or College of Education (COE) sit down there and deny Rivers people water?”
He said: “It is not about Ijaw. It is not about Southsouth, because the first question I will ask myself is ‘what have I benefitted in the government of President Goodluck Jonathan? We gave him between 1.5 million to 2.1 million votes. What have we got? What has the Federal Government done for Rivers people?”