Embattled Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has said that contrary to speculations, he has no interest in the presidency in 2015.
He said that it was a plan by his detractors to paint him black before his colleagues prior to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum election that made some people print his posters and pasted them in some parts of the country.
Amaechi said those behind the posters thought that his colleagues would be angry before the NGF election and think that he wanted to use the office for selfish reasons.
Posters bearing the names of Amaechi and the Governor of Jigawa State, Mr. Sule Lamido have been seen in some states, starting with Kaduna and then, in the capital, Abuja.
The posters presented the two governors as having presidential ambitions in 2015 and that they would contest under the platform of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party.
But Amaechi, who won the controversial NGF election with 19 votes against 16 that was recorded by his opponent, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, said those responsible for the posters would soon stop.
He said, “Those responsible for the posters are doing it out of mischief. I did not send anyone to print my posters and up till now, I don’t know who is responsible for the action.
“But one thing is clear: they were done to tarnish my image before other governors.
“Their intention was that because of the posters, my fellow governors would not vote for me during the NGF election, thinking that I have an ambition which I want to use the chairmanship to achieve.
“But because the governors know there is no such ambition, they did not bother as they still voted for me.”
Asked whether having such an ambition was a wrong thing, he said there was nothing wrong with it, but asked why some people spent money for what he described as “a venture meant to destroy other people.”
“But you may need to know that I don’t have such an ambition in the first place,” he added.
Meanwhile, some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have said they are waiting for money allegedly being sourced by some people to impeach the governor.
The members, who spoke on condition of anonymity with reporters in Abuja on Friday, said they had heard about the plan to bribe them to impeach Amaechi.
They said the money, if brought, would be displayed on the floor of the assembly.
“Let them bring the money. We are waiting for it. We will collect it and display it on the floor of the House,” one of them said.