The immediate-past Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, on Thursday alleged that the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, made him a minister in order to whittle down his influence in the state.
Wike, who is seeking to become the next governor of the state, explained that becoming a minister was not aimed at promoting himself, adding that the target was to make him less influential and lose his base politically.
He recalled that he had wanted to vie for the senate position to represent Rivers East in 2011, but was barred from doing so, adding that the governor never told him that he (Amaechi) was nominating him (Wike) for the position of a minister.
Wike, who spoke in an African Independent Television interview monitored by NE on Thursday, stated that he was at a time no longer interested in working in a hostile environment when the governor hinted him of his intention to scrap the office of the chief of staff.
“Amaechi was told that if he wanted to have a successor, without anybody disturbing him, there was the need to push me away from Rivers State, to go and be a minister, for my influence in the state to be reduced. It was not a promotion for me, rather it was a strategy to make me less influential and to lose base.
“The governor never discussed with me that he was nominating me for a ministerial appointment. Ten persons were nominated to be minister from Rivers State. I was the second person on the list. Atedo Peterside was the first person on the list. Tonye Cole was the third person.
“Amaechi said he was going to scrap the office of Chief of Staff and I said I was no longer going to occupy it again. I was the Director-General of his campaign organisation in 2011 and having seen what had happened, it would no longer be conducive for me to work in an environment of hostility,” he said.
On his governorship ambition, Wike explained that his initial aspiration was not to succeed Amaechi and added that he had to consult stakeholders in the state before he decided to run.
Wike attributed the enmity between him and Amaechi to unnecessary suspicion, maintaining that he never left his constituency after becoming a minister.
“Succeeding Amaechi was certainly not my ambition. As events unfolded and time went by, a lot of things happened and I had to consult widely on whether to run or not. It is not as if I had the ambition all along to succeed Governor Amaechi,” he said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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I believe you 100%. your problem with Amaechi started when you refused to join him in oppossing the president due to his desire to be a vice president. A dream that is crashing before his eyes. I support you for standing up to challenge such betrayal of the interest of the zone and I wish you luck.
ReplyDeleteLook at this dump liar that once told us that Amaechi was not the one that nominated him for Ministerial appointment.... you think we are dump like you? anyway, with the mathematical and Political calculations in RS, thers no way an upland man will rule now after 16 years of Amaechi and Odili.....it is time for the Riverine except PDP wants to cause heavy problems in RS.
ReplyDeleteWike is not good to b a govrn of rivers state. reasons 1 he lied a lot. 2 he can not decide for himself. 3 he does not hv capacity to b a gvrn. 4 as a minister of education universities closed for 9 months under his rulership. He said amechi made him minister but I read in NE where JP gave him her blessing to run for rivers state gvrnship n she said wike do well to listened to her advice to drop his idea to become senator then. so why is he now lying on amechi made him minister against his becoming senator? rivers pple b wise bfor DPJ impose wike on u.
ReplyDeleteYou said before that Amaechi did not made you minister and now you are saying he made you minister. You see how wicked you are. You denied him before but now you are confessing. I thought you said Amaechi didn't do anything for you, stupid man. So you think that you are influential now, you are just notorious.
ReplyDeleteA loser like Wike will always cook up lies.
ReplyDeleteThis man is undemocratic. Look at the way he handled A.S.U.U crises. Rivers State electorates be wise.
ReplyDeleteWike said Amaechi never made him a minister, here again you are saying he DID , Bros Wike, which one do we follow? its like you are forgetting yourself oooooo. Well Wike my kind advice to you; please you should not have resigned as a minister bcos a bird at hand worth 50,000 in the bush. Never in the history of Rivers politics will this happen. Well please plan to Join trading now cos there may not be space to accommodate you any more. thanks
ReplyDelete