The Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi, has again accused President Goodluck Jonathan of not implementing any federal project in Rivers State, challenging the president to prove him wrong by showing even “half” a project the state has benefitted from his administration.
Mr. Amaechi spoke Monday when he met students of the Rivers State University.
He appealed to the students to be part of the forthcoming Permanent Voters Card, PVC, collection and fresh voters registration exercise to enable them exercise their civic right in the 2015 elections.
“I am aware that from Friday, we would start collecting what they call the permanent voter’s card. I am aware that after the collection of permanent voter’s card, they would start fresh registration of voters. That’s part of what brought me (to your university).
“I have come to say to those who are 16, don’t go and vote but those who are up to 18, go and vote; but to vote, you must first and foremost, go to collect your permanent voter’s card. If you don’t have a permanent voter’s card, then you need to go and register as they start registration,” he said.
The governor explained that he parted ways with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, because the PDP-led federal government failed to address the challenges facing Rivers State.
“Now, the reason why there is a disagreement between us and the federal government is one question we have always been asking in public – can a federal government led by our own brother who comes from Bayelsa, can they show us one project that they have done in Rivers State? And I said again to the federal government, if you can’t show us one, show us half, that is, the one you started and you abandoned and you forgot it; none, and Rivers State gave our President the highest vote in the country, 1.8million votes,” Mr. Amaechi said.
He continued: “If nothing else, repair our airport. What have we done against the President that an airport they started the same time with Abuja, with Lagos, with Enugu. They have finished Lagos, they have finished Abuja, they have finished Enugu, our own is abandoned, what did we do?
“Our oil well in the Kalabari area, they have taken, so the basic quarrel is that the federal government is not addressing our problems. So, we said to the federal government, if you have not done those projects and you have done nothing for Rivers State, why do we need to remain in PDP and work with the federal government, so we left PDP and joined APC.”
“We joined APC because we need to get back our oil wells. So, one thing you owe us is to go and collect your card. When you collect your card, you must help us do one thing – don’t vote for PDP,” Mr. Amaechi said.
The governor said his administration has positively affected the lives of Rivers people in different sectors. He said he was impressed with improvements recorded in the university and recalled efforts made by his administration to accredit all courses offered by the university.
“By the time I became governor, sixty to seventy per cent of your departments and courses and faculties were not accredited and I said it is either we are ready for a university or we are not ready for a university. If we are not ready for a university, we close down, but if we need to educate our children, we need to educate our children. It means that whatever is the requirement for accreditation in the university, government must meet it and we met it. They came here, they inspected, they confirmed that we have met it”.
