Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State and a former Spokesperson of the defunct New Peoples Democrstic Party, nPDP, has accused the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, of setting aside a whopping sum of N100 billion for a media campaign against the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi.
In a statement to DAILY POST on Thursday, Eze also alleged that Governor Wike was recruiting a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, spokesperson for the Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, Imo Ikenga, among others, to lead the media campaign.
Eze said impeccable sources, who are well informed of the plot, said the governor had already assembled the team of sworn anti-Amaechi in the PDP and other opposition elements, including Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, the National Chairman of Zenith Labour Party ZLP, to be supported by Barr Emma Okah, the Rivers state Commissioner for Information, with Senator Magnus Abe as coordinator of the project.
Eze added that the primary target of the sponsors of the project, represented by the Rivers state governor, is to smear the image of the minister.
According to Eze, insiders in the Wike administration in Port Harcourt had been boasting of late that the onslaught against Amaechi this time around would be targeted at damaging his public image, using the media at all levels as well as on multiple platforms.
The end result, he claimed, is to make the minister not attractive for a reappointment in President Buhari’s next cabinet, adding that a mobilisation of N20 billion had already been disbursed to the assembled team.
Eze added, “A whopping sum of N100billion has been set aside for this task aimed at defaming, smearing, disparaging, blackmailing and frustrating Amaechi’s re-nomination into President Buhari’s new cabinet.
“Available facts indicate that the sum of N20Billion has already be released to the committee comprising of some states and national commentators, while further disbursement will be done as the committee progresses in its deadly task.
“Some of the key Committee members so far recruited are Chief Dan Nwanyanwu the National Chairman of Zenith Labour Party, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode former Aviation Minister, Barr Reno Omokri, a former presidential spokesman to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Barr Imo Ikenga the CUPP Spokesperson to be supported by Barr Emma Okah the Rivers State Commissioner for Information who is to as the Committee’s Secretary/Resource Person and source provider of most of the dirty documents with Senator Magnus Abe coordinating the multi Billion Naira venture.
“According to the charge to the committee, the committee should use every media platform to make the 2015 plot against Amaechi a child’s play, especially as Wike plans on using some of Amaechi’s former cabinet members to tell false, concocted and distorted stories to the media and impugn the minister’s unblemished integrity and paint a very terrible image of him to members of the public.
“The committee is charged to recruit other Nigerians and foreigners alike to jointly and collaboratively carry out this hatchet job of ‘hack Amaechi down’ campaign. The plan is to throw as much dirt at him as possible and rubbish his image that the 2015 campaign against him will become a child’s play.
“Most of the committee members are currently in Rivers state and are being coached on what to say to the press and how to say it, to do maximum damage while others are busy distorting, concocting and fabricating fake screenshots, text messages, documents and all sorts in Senator Abe’s Freedom House campaign office in Port Harcourt; that they intend to release to the media to tarnish the image of the minister. Pages of some key National Dailies are already booked in advance and most Network Televisions and their anchormen contacted for this deadly task.
“Today, even not waiting to be formally commissioned, across media platforms subtle campaigns were already ongoing to sway public perception against the former Rivers State Governor. Recently both Amadi Dike, a stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo and Sunny Oburu PDP apologists in their various recent reports have castigated Amaechi with unkind words pleading with President Buhari not to reappoint Amaechi into his cabinet.
“In carrying out this deadly act against an innocent man, whose only crime was that he supervised the election and reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari both in 2015 and 2019, Senator Abe is busy on daily basis jumping from one TV station to the other, discussing Amaechi while Chief Dan Nwanyanwu is trying to outshine other committee members and Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is busy writing worthless and inciting letters and articles aimed at achieving the aim of the Amaechi-must-be-destroyed committee.”
However, Eze noted that the plot and its execution had failed right from the moment it was conceived because most Nigerians have come to understand that Amaechi, being one of the most critical factors to the ouster of the PDP from its merciless milking of the nation’s resources, will continue to be a target of attack from the reactionary elements that represent the former ruling.
Eze pointedly stated that no matter the efforts of both Wike and Abe that their very best, can never equal, not to talk about surpassing Amaechi’s sterling, innovative, radical, trend-setting and absolutely revolutionary records as a world acknowledged leader of our time. Take it or leave it, Amaechi remains a hero of global reckoning.
All these plots notwithstanding, the fact remains that Amaechi have proven himself as a unique leader in Nigeria and no amount of evil machinations will deter his reappointment if merit is the yardstick for appointment.
He added, “He is a shining star who has brought his wealth of experience to bear in transforming the rail transport sector and the President is happy with him. The fact remains Amaechi) has made us from the South-South proud, very proud, by his exceptional performance.”
Eze said that he is “consoled by the fact that Buhari doesn’t listen to those nasty smears and blackmail.
“Wike and Abe are not God Let them gather together and plot evil against Amaechi with trillions of Naira, they shall continue to fall as they have always been. The Bible says the Egyptians you see here today, in a moment you will find them no more. The battle is the Lord’s and he needs no assistance from anybody. They failed in 2015 and surely they will fail in 2019.”
Eze, however, added that “those who are true adherents of the politics of Rt. Hon. Amaechi would not be distracted by any campaign of calumny against the man,” adding “we are sure that President Buhari will also not be distracted by these misguided persons, whose hatred for his person is being transferred on Amaechi.”