TheCable

Rotimi Amaechi, outgoing governor of Rivers state, has revealed that he was under pressure to probe Peter Odili, his predecessor, but he did not do so in order to move the state forward.

Responding to the threat of Nyesom Wike, the incoming governor, to probe his administration, Amaechi said he has the records of Wike, who worked under him as chief of staff for four years.

The governor was speaking on Tuesday during a programme organised at the convention centre Port Harcourt, in honour of his 50th birthday.

“I have been listening to Mr. Nyesom Wike and I have been trying not to reply him. He’s been accusing me of corruption and I have been trying to keep quiet over the issue of corruption – a thief cannot call me corrupt,” he said.

“The first lesson he (Wike) needs to learn is that he was chief of staff to my government and if I have no records, I have records on him.

“One way we succeeded in moving this state forward was that I refused to probe Dr. Odili’s government, despite the pressure on me to probe his government; because at the end of the day, you will not ask me, ‘how many people did you probe’? You’d ask me, what did you do while you were in government?”

Amaechi alleged that Wike threatened to probe him in order to discourage the All Progressives Congress (APC) from protesting the outcome of the governorship election in court but that the APC would not back down on the retrieval of its “stolen mandate”.

“I thank all of you that have followed me, the fight is not over. The reason why Nyesom Wike is talking the way he’s talking is because they are looking for us to come and negotiate with them, so they can illegally stay in office,” he said.

“They would not stay like that; we must go to court. God would no longer allow people who kill people to be governor in Rivers state. God would allow only those who worship him.

“My priest has told me that God said we would defeat Nyesom Wike, the same way he told me in 2007, Amaechi, you’ll be governor. Even if we stop praying, God has already answered our prayers.

“God would not allow us take somebody who is a killer, who has killed human beings, to become governor. A relation of mine was killed in front of his (Wike) father’s house during the election. I’m a Christian; I have never killed anybody and I would never kill anybody.

“Instead of killing somebody, I would give up my ambition, because anybody’s life is greater than any ambition that I would have on earth.”

Amaechi said he has done his best for the state and that records would speak for him.

He added that one of the things that gladdens him is that he has been able to inspire confidence in his children, recalling a personal encounter where they vowed for his integrity.

“There is one satisfaction in my life: four or five days ago when I was sitting with two of my children in London — we decided to gossip about me,” he said.

“One of my sons said, dad, the problem we have with Nigeria is that people don’t know that there are some honest men like you, you’re so honest and transparent, and we argue with them everyday in school.

“I asked them, how do you know? They said from our relationship with you from day to day, how much you talk about thieves, and why you disagree with thieves, even us you taught us – don’t you ever steal anybody’s property, and we believe that it is critical that all Nigerians should be that transparent.

“I had a conversation with my first son, he said to me, ‘I don’t like the way you’re leaving government with Nyesom Wike as governor, anyway, dad the most important thing is that I’m proud of you. They cannot write the history of Nigeria and the transition from one civilian government to another and they would exclude my father.’

“We are proud to have a father like you – that’s my biggest achievement.”