Why Rotimi Amaechi Should Not Have Supported Buhari’s Election

Editor’s note: Indigenes of Rivers state are waiting for the outcome of the political brouhaha going on between the former governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and his successor, Nyesom Wike. Should the former governor be subjected to a probe? Eustace Dunn, a Rivers state resident, commentator on social matters and Naij.com’s senior editor, examines the uproar around the issue.

Ex-Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi

There was actually a conditional clause in a quote once attributed to the erstwhile governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi, who said no one has the right to probe him. Tony Okocha, explaining Amaechi’s situation, said there is a court order according to which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission cannot probe any government official from the state. Until such order is vacated, the former governor cannot be probed.

Interestingly, the current governor of the state, Chief Nyesom Wike, is said to be a beneficiary of that order. This is exactly what an ex-governor of the state and Amaechi’s predecessor Peter Odili is enjoying at the moment. Odili secured perpetual injunction against his arrest by any anti-graft agency. In his case, there were political manipulations of the justice system.

But if such order exists and Governor Wike is aware of it, should he have gone beyond it? If such order exists, on what basis was it granted that government officials of the state should not be probed? Dirty hands should not be accepted by equity. Even when clean hands go to equity, it is on the basis that injustice had been done.

The Peter Odili you may not have known

Talking about Odili: during his eight-year tenure, the state had no power supply, clean water or access to functional schools even with the over $1billion annual budget. He was busy sharing money among his age group. Sir Odili was so rich that he was said to have even gone as far as making donations to groups and individuals.

His wealth and status made him the core target of the EFCC. But he escaped the hangman’s rope. Because of the corrupt nature of the Nigerian justice system, the EFCC’s appeal against the injunction never saw the light of day as the court is yet to decide the black-market order. His wife, Justice Mary Ukaego Odili, may have successfully hid her husband from the blind eyes of the law, but one day shall be a day of justice for all. Against this backdrop, a natural question will then be: If Peter Odili was not probed, who should then be probed in Nigeria?

How Amaechi is toeing Odili’s line

Unlike Odili, who was highly domineering perhaps because he was one of the oldest governors at his time, the embattled immediate past governor of the oil-rich state is the stubborn one. Odili obviously milked the state unpronounced and now Amaechi is alleged of stashing away over N80billion into personal account in Switzerland. It is assumed to be true until he proves himself free of the allegation.

Amaechi’s actions towards his probe are very suggestive of the fact that he may be culpable of looting the state just like his predecessor. He too sought to get an injunction to stop every probe of his government.

He claimed that the Justice George Omereji-led commission of inquiry set up to examine his administration was to witch-hunt him since the judge had not been his supporter from day one. With all fairness to Wike, when the former governor set up the Justice Kayode Esho truth and reconciliation commission in the state, Odili appeared before it. Although it was just “the more you look, the less you see” commission of inquiry as Odili was never concretely indicted.

Amaechi-Jonathan feud and the APC romance

The altercation between Amaechi and the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, was a very interesting one in the history of Nigerian politics. As the then-governor, he was living in a glass house and pelting stones at the same time. His glass house got broken and his political reputation dashed.

He had accused the former first lady, Patience Jonathan, and her hitman, Governor Wike, as the causes of the fracas between him and the ex-president. Jonathan finally owned up, albeit reluctantly, that Amaechi was “a thorn in the flesh”. Wike’s fight against his predecessor and benefactor was not far from the fact that he wanted the PDP governorship ticket and presidential support. This he got especially from the then first lady, a daughter of the state.

The reasons for their attack were very glaring. Wike would have been bereft of hope when the team of his presidential support was walloped out of the number one political seat during the March 28 2015 general elections. Of course he didn’t want to be complacent on the basis that the state had been a PDP state that is why the Rivers state governorship election was marred by violence and undisputable rigging (as testified by INEC and security officials before the state tribunal) in favour of Governor Wike.

Amaechi’s greatest political mistake

The change which was campaigned for has now changed, as those who could not hide under the PDP umbrella and thought that President Muhammadu Buhari would shield them from the sledgehammer of the law are now being swept with the party’s broom into the dock.

A lot of people believe that Amaechi dismantled the structure of the PDP in Rivers state. A party that brought him into limelight. On this note, Odili had to vehemently say that he regretted the support for Amaechi’s governorship race in 2007. He had taken the governorship seat from his cousin, Celestine Omehia, after a Supreme Court ruling declared that Omehia held the seat in error. This is one fact that governor Wike puts aside. He was the chief of staff to the former governor that helped in fighting against this same Omehia whom he now restores as one time governor of the state. This act is highly inconsequential on the side of a state governor.

Aside all that, Amaechi ran away after messing up his home. The All Progressives Congress is never anyone’s home as its inhabitants are people from divergent political ideologies and personal political interests. It was because of his arrogance and pride that made him run away from the former ruling party to the APC. If he had settled his scores with the former president, he would not be running helter-skelter looking for where to hide. Wike would not have been gunning for his head by now.

‘If I had known, I would not have supported President Buhari’s mandate’, he may have cogitated in his solitude as he is now a derelict hero. He did not envisage that it was a serious matter when Nigerians said that the president is believed not to be in tune with hiding corrupt government officials. A man known for ‘war against corruption’. If he doubts it, he can go on and ask the Senate president, Olubukola Saraki.

Although many would always be of the notion that it is political witch-hunting especially in the case of Babatunde Fashola, the former Lagos state governor and that of his South-West counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, the former governor of Ekiti state, it’s time everyone observed that it is no longer business as usual. The number three man on the political radar has now been registered as one of those docked, it should now be noted that no one is above the law.

Appointment disappointment

President Buhari has said that he will not work with anyone who currently has a case to answer. It then means that Amaechi’s secret yearning for appointment is jeopardized.

The general belief now is that there is no how Amaechi will be probed and not found guilty. He should be bold to face any probe action and dispel his instinctive forecast about being witch-hunted; if truly he is clean, justice will definitely prevail. If your hand is clean, no matter how one tries to witch-hunt you, facts will prove everything right or wrong as the case may be.

The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Naij.com.

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The post Why Rotimi Amaechi Should Not Have Supported Buhari’s Election appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.

Why Rotimi Amaechi Should Not Have Supported Buhari’s Election