Governor
Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has listed his arch-rival, Minister of Transport,
Rotimi Amaechi, among several persons to be honoured by the state.
Prospective
honourees will be honoured for their individual contributions to the
development of Rivers State.
A list of
honourees prepared by the Jubilee Anniversary Committee set up by Mr. Wike had
Mr. Amaechi’s name at number 18 amongst 29 people to be awarded Grand Service
Star of Rivers State.
Former
Nigerian leaders Goodluck Jonathan and Yakubu Gowon are also on the list,
alongside late activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who would be honoured posthumously.
Mr. Amaechi
served as governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015. Mr. Wike succeeded him.
The awards
ceremony is slated to hold on May 27 in Port Harcourt, the state capital,
according to the program pamphlet .
It was not
immediately clear if the minister would accept the honour or personally show up
to receive his medal from Mr. Wike, with whom he’d been locked in bitter
political contest for more than three years.
Mr.
Amaechi’s spokesperson, David Iyofor, said he was not aware of his principal
being identified amongst those to be honoured.
Although Mr.
Wike once served as Mr. Amaechi’s chief of staff during the former’s first term
from 2007 to 2011, the duo soon fell out with each other shortly after Mr. Wike
was appointed as Minister of State foe Education by former President Goodluck
Jonathan.
Mr. Wike was
scheming to succeed Mr. Amaechi in office, but the then governor had a
different plan.
The
disagreement soon snowballed into an all-out political chaos between the duo.
When a
friction ensued between Mr. Amaechi and former First Lady Patience Jonathan,
Mr. Wike took sides with the latter.
The award
comes even as Mr. Wike appears to intensify attacks against his predecessor.
Within the
last few weeks, the governor has levelled many allegations against the
minister.
Shortly
after a huge stash of cash was discovered in an apartment in Ikoyi, Mr. Wike
took to media to link Mr. Amaechi with the money.
The claim
turned out to be false after it was confirmed that the money belonged to the
National Intelligence Agency.
On Monday,
the governor accused Mr. Amaechi of raising a cult militia in the state, to
prepare for 2019 elections.
Mr. Amaechi
denied the allegation.
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