Says Chidi Wihioka is a Political Jobber…
By Olawale Lamina
Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party, nPDP, and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has described as blatant falsehood, claims by a former member of the House of Representatives, Elder. Chidi Wihioka, that the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote Refinery in Lagos considered as world biggest single-train facility was originally billed to be cited in Rivers but was frustrated by former Minister of Transformation, Chibuike Amaechi, when he held sway as Governor of Rivers State.
Wihioka had appeared on a live-media chat and stated how billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote had once considered Rivers State for his multi-billion dollar petrol refinery before the plan was allegedly thwarted by Rotimi Amaechi.
Chief Eze quoted Wihioka as saying that, “Dangote came to Rivers State to build this refinery in Lagos in Rivers State. He (Amaechi) kept Dangote in a waiting room for 6 hours. No respect. At the end of the day, Dangote toured the whole Eleme area and got satisfied with the area as a place to site his refinery.”
The party chieftain also said that Wihioka had accused the former Rivers State governor that instead of negotiating for employment opportunities and economic benefits for Rivers people, the former Minister of Transportation under late President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly made a personal demand.
Eze quoted Wihioka, from the live media chat as saying, “The man ( Amaechi ) instead of saying okay, what are the employment chances for Rivers State?, Ehat he asked Dangote was: ‘what is my own share in your company?’ Dangote was shocked. Dangote now left and went to Lagos and they gave him everything free.”
Eze went ahead to cite an instance where Chidi Wihioka, had during a political rally taunted Amaechi, claiming that the former Governor and Minister only operates from Abuja and avoids engaging directly with the people at the government level.
Reacting through a statement made available to the media, Chief Eze said the cocktail of lies labelled against Amaechi by Wihioka clearly touches on the latter’s level of moral depravity and calls to question his status as a church elder whose life and character ordinarily should have depicted virtues of truth, sincerity and godliness in all respect.
An angry Ameachi’s political loyalist descended on Wihioka, describing him as a “shameless and chronic liar, valueless political merchant and Viciously malevolent scoundrel with a dint of brazen duplicitous penchant.”
Eze stated the former lawmaker has a finely honed sense of wild prevarication; a tool he deploys to swindle his paymasters out of their loots of the common patrimony, stressing that his personae paints him as a mere commodity displayed on wares in shops, waiting for the highest bidder.
Eze stated that Dangote got all that he needed free of charge to build the Lagos Refinery, forgetting that Dangote paid millions of Naira in order to acquire the land he used in building the Lagos Refinery and for him to join the camp of the enemies of democracy that have made Rivers State a laughing stock exposes him as a misguided fellow whose belly is his ultimate goal and vision
“It was Chidi Wihioka, the shameless elder, whom, after Amaechi sacrificed so much to give him a seat at the National Assembly, allowing himself to be used as a reference point to taunt Amaechi, being a lawmaker representing Ikwerre/Emohua federal constituency. This he did by severing ties with his benefactor and pitched with Magnus Abe, the new errand boy to the FCT Minister,” Eze alleged.
Straightening the records, Chief Eze said, when Dangote came to Port Harcourt, he told Amaechi he would like to build a gas plant. He was taken to a befitting site in Onne where Amaechi promised to build a bridge to ease movement of products aside from several other promises just to ensure the project comes to light. But Dangote left and never came back despite assurances of support from the state government.
The party chieftain however argued that the narrative peddled by Wihioka only exists in the figment of his own imagination and crafted to entice his paymasters as he was never a part of the meeting to be privy to discussions and demands made by Amaechi during their interaction. He revealed that as a matter of fact, Dangote never wanted to build any refinery in Rivers State.
Continuing, Chief Eze said: “Rivers people are aware that during his days as Governor, Amaechi raised the economic bar of Rivers State through his strategic economic blueprint which harped on massive investments in agriculture, health, education and other capital projects which ultimately engaged the youths meaningfully and practically reduced crime and criminality in the state.
He explained that during his administration Amaechi created massive investment platforms for smart investors and through his initiatives the state turned the investment haven of Nigeria, galvanizing a pool of local and foreign investors who created jobs for the young people and contributed to Nigeria’s foreign exchange.
Eze called on the public to disregard what he dubbed as potpourri of falsehood peddled by Wihioka, “an old betrayer whose records smack of tales of treachery and perfidy which are etched as badges of his poor character.”
Eze concluded by assuring Wihioka that thousands of his ilk can’t and will not succeed to down Amaechi politically no matter the effort and plots they deploy.
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