Amaechi: Rivers residents have rejected Wike | INEC must be neutral during guber poll

Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, says the residents of Rivers have rejected Nyesom Wike, governor of the state.

Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be neutral in the forthcoming guber poll.

Siminialayi Fubara, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will be up against Tonye Cole, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, on Saturday.

Speaking on Tuesday at an event in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni LGA of Rivers, Amaechi said Cole would bring development to the state.

The former governor said when he was in charge of the state, his administration made investments across various sectors, adding that Wike cannot boast of similar projects.

He also criticised Wike for saying he was drinking a 40-year-old whiskey when PDP members were protesting at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.

“Every street I went to, people were jumping on top of me shouting. They were remembering that I built five flyovers, I did not dance. We employed 400 new doctors, bought cars for 600 doctors, bought ambulances for all the health centres,” he said.

“We went round primary schools to see what’s going on, and discovered there were no teachers, so we hired 13,200 teachers. By the time I left as governor, there was a contractor in every school to maintain the school. Where are the schools that he (Wike) built?

“Compare Tonye and the other man, then compare our government with that of Wike. Did Wike do schools, did he do electricity? Your health care, we did.

“When you see Tonye Cole who is a businessman, from business into politics, why won’t you invest in him? This is your time, come out and vote. When we win, things will change.”