Rivers State Governor and the current Director
General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign
Organisation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the First Lady, Patience
Jonathan, authorized the killing of a policeman in Okrika Rivers State.
He revealed this during his visit to Politics Today on Channels TV, hosted by Seun Okin.
Amaechi began by addressing the allegation by the PDP Director of
Media, Femi Fani Kayode, that the APC is planning to rig the election.
He said: “Fani-Kayode does not have credibility. Did you hear of all the things he said about the PDP while he was in the APC? What powers do we have to rig or postpone the election? The president was in a meeting in which all Nigerians in the meeting said ‘don’t postpone the election’, and he still did it. Who has more capacity to rig election, the PDP or the APC? If the right person speaks, then we will respond. Fani-Kayode lacks the credibility. Let’s move to another issues.”
He then talked about the security council meeting, where they agreed on no postponement of the election.
He said: “How can we (APC) be happy when Nigerians said they don’t want the elections to be postponed and you go back on your word and postpone it. I hope by March 28th they would have been able to decimate Boko Haram, because if they are not succesful, I hope they don’t postpone again, cause they might ask us to allow them do further fighting.
“But for us as Nigerians and the opposition party, we believe the decision was wrong because 80 % of Nigerians at that meeting were against postponement of the elections and INEC’s chairman made an interesting comment. Jega asked the president: ‘If you say that the 2011 elections was credible, Mr president, I am more prepared now than I was in 2011′”.
On the issue of security being the reason for the postponement:
“What security is that? 2 weeks before that the chief of defence staff said that they are prepared for the election with his military chief. From then till the day the elections was postponed what happened? Did Boko Haram become more dangerous, did they kill more people than they killed in Baga? What has changed?”
On the issue that the elections would have caused loss of lives, because of the elections:
“This I raised in 2007 we had a similar situation in Niger Delta. Today in my state, in Rivers state, every day someone is killed in my state with the connivance of the Nigerian police.
“The police do nothing, they know the people and they don’t arrest. A policeman was shot in Okrika, they know it was Ateke that ordered the shooting, they know that it was the wife of the president that ordered the shooting, what have they done?”
On how he knows this.
“I am Chief Security Officer, that’s how I have this information. You know, when the president said that this election is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, you ask him all those Nigerian that are being killed are they Biafrans? The policeman that was killed in Okrika is he from Biafra? Is he a Guinean or a Chinese? Then he would come out.
He went on: “The problem with us a country is that we forget so soon, if the president had assured the nation that ‘My election is not worth anyone’s blood’, but we wake and somebody is being killed in Rivers state. When APC were campaigning in Ogoni Government went there and took away my Deputy Press Secretary, so what do you say to that, My Chief press secretary is from Congo or where?
“The point is what we call the rule of law, PDP and the Presidency is not happy that I can express myself so they want to do anything illegal, I am told if you go to Rivers state now, the Judiciary is not functioning because some people from the Presidency and the PDP have corrupted the judiciary in Rivers state.
“The police have locked up the Rivers state house of assembly so they now sit at the government house and then you say we are in a country governed by rule of law.”
Back to the issue of the postponement and Boko Haram.
Amaechi continued: “What is the president doing now, that he couldn’t have done then. Did he hire new Nigerian soldiers, the money he used to buy these weapons where they not there, Was the dollar not cheaper than it is now? So is it possible that it is true that the allegations made by some people that the reason why Boko Haram is not being fought in the North is for political reason.
“And now that it appears that one of the reasons that Nigerians don’t want to vote for Mr President is because of Boko Haram. Is he fighting Boko Haram now as a resolution of resolving that issue? Nigerian have made up their mind, those who will vote for Goodluck Jonathan will vote for him, those who won’t, wouldn’t. There is darkness in the land there is darkness in the land.
“If the president likes he can commission as many power projects as he likes, it would not change the mind of those who have made up their minds to vote for him or against him and the truth is that the more power project Mr president commissions the more we are in darkness,am sure you are using generator now.
Whether it was PDP’s or INEC’s idea to postpone the election.
He asked: “How do you know that ? Please don’t get INEC involved, I just told you here that the chairman of INEC in a meeting all of us where present stated to the president, ‘Everything that INEC needs to do we have done’ If you claim that 2011 elections was very credible and the best elections we have done, I am now more prepared to conduct a better election than I was in 2011.
Does the governor think the INEC is prepared?
Amaechi replied: “Professor Jega is not a man who talks carelessly.”
Host Seun then asks: “At that time, INEC had distributed only 64% of the total PVC, but by now they have distributed over 74%.”
Amaechi responds: “When will INEC be said to be prepared 100%, when they distribute 100% of the PVC’s or 80%, 50 or 64% ? At what point?
“If they had crossed the 50% mark then you ask yourself the question, how many Nigerians vote? what is the percentage of Nigerian that go to vote? they have exceeded that.
“I listened to the Governor of Cross River state (PDP’s Liyel Imoke), he said INEC must distribute 100% of the PVC’s before we can conduct election, so if a man refuses to go and collect his PVC what happens? Then we say INEC you can not proceed with elections because people have not collected 100% of the PVC?
“Is the president saying if he knew he would win election on that day, he would have asked for postponement. these are questions you need to also ask the PDP.”
Did the postponement harm your (APC) preparation in any way?
He said: “If you like shift election to May 29th or June 1st, the reality on ground is Nigerians want change, you need to go to the streets and hear Nigerians say change, its become a phenomenon. You can’t stop the wind of change, as am talking to you now, things have got to change, Buhari ran in 2011, did you hear change? Now Nigerians want change and they think that APC provides that change and they want to vote for APC.
“You use the military, you bring militants, to shoot people, you kill people, the people would die, that is what they are planning to do but that would not stop change. The earlier the president’s team recognises that the better, the earlier PDP knows that the better, because the nation wants change. South West voted for the president, the way it is in the South West now without campaigning for the APC , don’t you see people on their own chanting the word ‘change’?
“I go to hotels, I am told ‘change’. I go to airports, I am told ‘change’, I travelled last week to the UK and people where begging me in Abuja airport not to go for long cause they want change quickly.”
Maybe it’s because they saw you?
Amaechi: “My wife came the next day, they told her, ‘tell your husband to come back’, and the place was divided. Only one lady said ‘I am for transformation’, the rest said ‘noo, we want change, we want change; open place with passengers present, so how will the PDP address that on the day of election?”
Amaechi is the Rivers state governor and was one of the main proponents against the Goodluck Jonathan administration since 2011.
He revealed this during his visit to Politics Today on Channels TV, hosted by Seun Okin.
Rotimi Amaechi speaks on elections postponement. Snapshot from a video: ChannelsTV
He said: “Fani-Kayode does not have credibility. Did you hear of all the things he said about the PDP while he was in the APC? What powers do we have to rig or postpone the election? The president was in a meeting in which all Nigerians in the meeting said ‘don’t postpone the election’, and he still did it. Who has more capacity to rig election, the PDP or the APC? If the right person speaks, then we will respond. Fani-Kayode lacks the credibility. Let’s move to another issues.”
He then talked about the security council meeting, where they agreed on no postponement of the election.
He said: “How can we (APC) be happy when Nigerians said they don’t want the elections to be postponed and you go back on your word and postpone it. I hope by March 28th they would have been able to decimate Boko Haram, because if they are not succesful, I hope they don’t postpone again, cause they might ask us to allow them do further fighting.
“But for us as Nigerians and the opposition party, we believe the decision was wrong because 80 % of Nigerians at that meeting were against postponement of the elections and INEC’s chairman made an interesting comment. Jega asked the president: ‘If you say that the 2011 elections was credible, Mr president, I am more prepared now than I was in 2011′”.
On the issue of security being the reason for the postponement:
“What security is that? 2 weeks before that the chief of defence staff said that they are prepared for the election with his military chief. From then till the day the elections was postponed what happened? Did Boko Haram become more dangerous, did they kill more people than they killed in Baga? What has changed?”
On the issue that the elections would have caused loss of lives, because of the elections:
“This I raised in 2007 we had a similar situation in Niger Delta. Today in my state, in Rivers state, every day someone is killed in my state with the connivance of the Nigerian police.
“The police do nothing, they know the people and they don’t arrest. A policeman was shot in Okrika, they know it was Ateke that ordered the shooting, they know that it was the wife of the president that ordered the shooting, what have they done?”
On how he knows this.
“I am Chief Security Officer, that’s how I have this information. You know, when the president said that this election is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, you ask him all those Nigerian that are being killed are they Biafrans? The policeman that was killed in Okrika is he from Biafra? Is he a Guinean or a Chinese? Then he would come out.
He went on: “The problem with us a country is that we forget so soon, if the president had assured the nation that ‘My election is not worth anyone’s blood’, but we wake and somebody is being killed in Rivers state. When APC were campaigning in Ogoni Government went there and took away my Deputy Press Secretary, so what do you say to that, My Chief press secretary is from Congo or where?
“The point is what we call the rule of law, PDP and the Presidency is not happy that I can express myself so they want to do anything illegal, I am told if you go to Rivers state now, the Judiciary is not functioning because some people from the Presidency and the PDP have corrupted the judiciary in Rivers state.
“The police have locked up the Rivers state house of assembly so they now sit at the government house and then you say we are in a country governed by rule of law.”
Back to the issue of the postponement and Boko Haram.
Amaechi continued: “What is the president doing now, that he couldn’t have done then. Did he hire new Nigerian soldiers, the money he used to buy these weapons where they not there, Was the dollar not cheaper than it is now? So is it possible that it is true that the allegations made by some people that the reason why Boko Haram is not being fought in the North is for political reason.
“And now that it appears that one of the reasons that Nigerians don’t want to vote for Mr President is because of Boko Haram. Is he fighting Boko Haram now as a resolution of resolving that issue? Nigerian have made up their mind, those who will vote for Goodluck Jonathan will vote for him, those who won’t, wouldn’t. There is darkness in the land there is darkness in the land.
“If the president likes he can commission as many power projects as he likes, it would not change the mind of those who have made up their minds to vote for him or against him and the truth is that the more power project Mr president commissions the more we are in darkness,am sure you are using generator now.
Whether it was PDP’s or INEC’s idea to postpone the election.
He asked: “How do you know that ? Please don’t get INEC involved, I just told you here that the chairman of INEC in a meeting all of us where present stated to the president, ‘Everything that INEC needs to do we have done’ If you claim that 2011 elections was very credible and the best elections we have done, I am now more prepared to conduct a better election than I was in 2011.
Does the governor think the INEC is prepared?
Amaechi replied: “Professor Jega is not a man who talks carelessly.”
Host Seun then asks: “At that time, INEC had distributed only 64% of the total PVC, but by now they have distributed over 74%.”
Amaechi responds: “When will INEC be said to be prepared 100%, when they distribute 100% of the PVC’s or 80%, 50 or 64% ? At what point?
“If they had crossed the 50% mark then you ask yourself the question, how many Nigerians vote? what is the percentage of Nigerian that go to vote? they have exceeded that.
“I listened to the Governor of Cross River state (PDP’s Liyel Imoke), he said INEC must distribute 100% of the PVC’s before we can conduct election, so if a man refuses to go and collect his PVC what happens? Then we say INEC you can not proceed with elections because people have not collected 100% of the PVC?
“Is the president saying if he knew he would win election on that day, he would have asked for postponement. these are questions you need to also ask the PDP.”
Did the postponement harm your (APC) preparation in any way?
He said: “If you like shift election to May 29th or June 1st, the reality on ground is Nigerians want change, you need to go to the streets and hear Nigerians say change, its become a phenomenon. You can’t stop the wind of change, as am talking to you now, things have got to change, Buhari ran in 2011, did you hear change? Now Nigerians want change and they think that APC provides that change and they want to vote for APC.
“You use the military, you bring militants, to shoot people, you kill people, the people would die, that is what they are planning to do but that would not stop change. The earlier the president’s team recognises that the better, the earlier PDP knows that the better, because the nation wants change. South West voted for the president, the way it is in the South West now without campaigning for the APC , don’t you see people on their own chanting the word ‘change’?
“I go to hotels, I am told ‘change’. I go to airports, I am told ‘change’, I travelled last week to the UK and people where begging me in Abuja airport not to go for long cause they want change quickly.”
Maybe it’s because they saw you?
Amaechi: “My wife came the next day, they told her, ‘tell your husband to come back’, and the place was divided. Only one lady said ‘I am for transformation’, the rest said ‘noo, we want change, we want change; open place with passengers present, so how will the PDP address that on the day of election?”
Amaechi is the Rivers state governor and was one of the main proponents against the Goodluck Jonathan administration since 2011.
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