By Bayo Davids
The All Progressives Congress on Friday chided former Minister of Transportation , Rotimi Amaechi, over his recent incendiary remarks, which the party alleged were aimed to incite Nigerians against the President Bola Tinubu administration.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, disclosed this in a statement released in Abuja titled ‘Rotimi Amaechi, Inciting Anarchy is Irresponsible and Unpatriotic.’
Amaechi, a former Governor of Rivers State, had, in a recent interview, expressed surprise and berated Nigerian youths for sitting back instead of hitting the streets to protest the rising cost of living and hardship in the country.
Reacting, Morka described Amaechi’s statement as irresponsible, adding that the attitude towards the APC government was unbecoming of a leader, who was a two-term Speaker of the Rivers state House of Assembly, a two-term governor and a two-term minister.
He said, “Amaechi’s comments are insensitive, awful and unpatriotic, coming from one of Nigeria’s longest serving and highest ranking political freeloaders – a two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, a two-term Governor, and a two-term Minister of Transportation.
“If those in power “steal money” as Amaechi mischievously alleged, how come he can’t afford “to buy diesel” barely two years after “stealing” for over 24 years in power as Speaker, Governor and Minister? The only real anger that Amaechi and his fellow tribesmen of naysayers of the likes of Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, must feel is that they are not in the saddle of government today.
“For almost all of his adult life, Amaechi has been a leechy dependant on state resources, a voracious beneficiary of official patronage, and a leading participant in the generational devastation of our country’s economy. Attempting to hoodwink Nigerians into his web of false empathy and incitement to violence is hypocritical, provocative and dangerous.
“We urge Nigerians to dismiss the call to anarchy by Amaechi and his partisan tribesmen and to remain patient and continue to support President Tinubu’s bold effort to transform our country’s economy once and for all.”