Governor of Rivers State and President of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday refuted claims of his intention to ditch the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for another party.
Speaking at the State House, Abuja, where he was scheduled to attend a botched presidential committee meeting to intervene in his state’s dispute with Bayelsa, Amaechi said no right-thinking human would leave a party as large as the PDP for a fledgling party.
“I am still in the PDP. I am a member of the PDP,” he said. “PDP is the only national party in the country for now. Why will one want to leave a national party and go to another party?”
He also employed the opportunity to debunk allegations of purchasing aircrafts to facilitate the realisation of his interests in the 2015 elections. Rather, he explained that the state government purchased the aircrafts, after securing federal government approval, to improve security surveillance in the state.
He described the newspaper that published the story as an unpopular paper that should not be allowed to gain cheap popularity by publishing untrue news about prominent Nigerians.
In the report, the national daily claimed that the governor acquired four aircrafts (two armoured helicopters and two private jets) in a space of four months to drive his campaign for the 2015 presidential elections, further pegging the price of an armoured helicopter at about $18 million and a Gulf Stream at $10 million.
“The truth is that the Federal Government gave us approval to buy helicopters to fly around Rivers State for the purpose of security and we have done that,” he said.
“Up till now, they have not allowed the helicopter to come in. Maybe they are afraid that it is for 2015. Please help us beg them on behalf of Rivers State that we need the aircrafts to be able to secure the people of the state.
Amaechi questioned the possibility of aiding a political campaign with aircrafts, saying:
“How will you use what is in the hands of Nigerian security to campaign? You see the mischief? The helicopter is to ensure that Rivers State is under watch for 24 hours. It has cameras, so if somebody is committing a crime, we are seeing it.
“The monitors are in the office of the Brigade Commander, Office of the State Director of SSS, Office of the governor, Office of the Commissioner of Police. So for Christ sake, tell me how you will use it for campaign.
“You can see a lot of mischief. As usual, people will try to dent your image to show that this man is not as transparent as he claims after all. We have argued about the first aircraft we bought; that is no longer a story. We did not buy two jets.”
