Ateke Tackles Amaechi On 'Jetgate' Scandal

Ateke Tackles Amaechi On 'Jetgate' Scandal

FORMER Niger Delta freedom fighter, Chief Ateke Tom, has taken on the embattled Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, saying the governor has to explain to the Rivers people what he did with the N7.00 billion approved for him to acquire a jet for the state.

Ateke who was speaking in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on his way to Lagos on Monday, said Amaechi had severally in the past labelled him as a ''criminal'' for fighting for greater share of their own God-given resources and political participation for which Amaechi is a beneficiary . According to him, ''the facts on the ground at the moment tend to cast the governor as a bigger criminal''.

''There are a lot of questions begging for answers from Amaechi. Firstly, how come a jet that was bought with Rivers money was registered in a foreign company's name? Was the twisted registration part of a grand plan to take over the jet after May 29, 2015?

''The jetgate scandal  may just be a tip of the iceberg for what may well be a festering net of graft in Rivers. The white man says those who live in glass houses do not throw stones, and yet Governor Amaechi has been throwing stones at President Goodluck Jonathan, and his administration's transformation agenda from his glass house. The way things are, the moral burden on the governor is for him to throw in the towel for failing Rivers people'', he said.

Ateke said the governor should be held responsible for any break down of law and order in the state, alleging that his administration is busy mobilising citizens to embark on solidarity march with him.

But Port Harcourt has been firing at Abuja, alleging that they were out to create chaos in the state with an intent for a state of emergency.

For Ateke, ''i think Amaechi's hostile attitude to President Goodluck Jonathan's administration is responsible for his unfolding predicament. He has been carrying himself all over the place as a saint. Thank God for this jetgate scandal that has exposed the underbelly of the governor''.

In the mean time, the Caretaker Committee Chair of Obio-Akpor Local Government Council, Chikaodi Dike, has alleged that ''strange policemen'' on Friday, took over the council secretariat.   He said the policemen claimed that they were there to forestall a breakdown of law and order in the council offices.   ''We can now authoritatively reveal to Rivers people that the same Abuja forces who orchestrated the barricading of our council premises by the police are planning to storm the same council offices on Monday, May 6, 2013 with different shades of hoodlums and miscreants and then unleash violence and mayhem on the good people of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area. Their plan is to start from outside the council secretariat'', he said.

ENDS

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