By Danlami Nmodu
Edo State Governor , Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has debunked a report that Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi donated N500m to facilitate his reelection .The report claimed that Amaechi’s recent travails may not be unconnected with this alleged donation to the Edo state governor who belongs to opposition Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN.
But Oshiomhole who spoke through Prince Kassim Afegbua, special adviser, media and public affairs to the Edo State Governor said “there was no time that the Rivers State Governor Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi donated any money, let alone the sum of N500m either directly or by proxy, to the Campaign funds of the Comrade Governor, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole. Again, we wish to state unequivocally that there was no time that the Rivers State Governor spent two nights in Benin City before, during and after the Campaigns of the Comrade Governor.
Continuing,Oshiomhole’s aide said “We find it utterly misleading for anyone to deliberately raise unverifiable claims just to give the Rivers State Governor a bad name and portray the Edo State Governor in bad light with respect to campaign funds and management of same. The relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 [as amended] frown at such bogus donations by either an individual or corporate body for the campaign of any individual candidate running for election. In fact, if anyone is in the breach of such provisions, it is the PDP. The Oshiomhole Campaign Organisation was very conscious of the requirement of the law with respect to donation, reason why it embarked on public fund raising dinners in Lagos, Abuja and Benin City. All those who made donations to the second term campaign of the performing Governor Oshiomhole were well captured in our reports and duly appreciated. There was no where that the Rivers State Governor was captured as having donated, let alone such a whopping sum of N500m.”
Oshiomhole’s statement signed by Afegbua reads thus:
“The attention of the Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, Mni, CON, has been drawn to a news report published in the Daily Sun of Thursday, 30th May, 2013 page 3; indicating that Amaechi’s Travails might not be unconnected to his alleged donation of N500m for the second term campaigns of the duly elected Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole. We had thought of ignoring this so-called allegation as another spurious, very ridiculous and roguish claim by an unnamed PDP chieftain, but for the sake of history and posterity, this disclaimer becomes tellingly instructive. To state the fact, there was no time that the Rivers State Governor Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi donated any money, let alone the sum of N500m either directly or by proxy, to the Campaign funds of the Comrade Governor, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole. Again, we wish to state unequivocally that there was no time that the Rivers State Governor spent two nights in Benin City before, during and after the Campaigns of the Comrade Governor.
We find it utterly misleading for anyone to deliberately raise unverifiable claims just to give the Rivers State Governor a bad name and portray the Edo State Governor in bad light with respect to campaign funds and management of same. The relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 [as amended] frown at such bogus donations by either an individual or corporate body for the campaign of any individual candidate running for election. In fact, if anyone is in the breach of such provisions, it is the PDP. The Oshiomhole Campaign Organisation was very conscious of the requirement of the law with respect to donation, reason why it embarked on public fund raising dinners in Lagos, Abuja and Benin City. All those who made donations to the second term campaign of the performing Governor Oshiomhole were well captured in our reports and duly appreciated. There was no where that the Rivers State Governor was captured as having donated, let alone such a whopping sum of N500m.
But for a country and a democracy such as ours, there should be no crime for any Governor to honour the invitation of the Comrade Governor on his second term inauguration, especially that of the duly elected Chairman of the Governors’ Forum.
The beauty of democracy and credible elections is the exhibition of the spirit of sportsmanship by the loser and his Party, and not this invidious show of hostility by the opposition PDP. When the Comrade Governor earlier referred to the PDP as a Party of rogues, the Party went for his jugular by calling him unprintable names and churning out all manners of lies and concocted tales just to make an impression.
With the recent outcome of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum election which returned Governor Amaechi as duly elected, and following the u-turn of those who participated in the exercise, the Comrade Governor’s roguish description of the PDP has become instructively appropriate. It is better for the PDP to look for other reasons why it has wrongly taken certain actions against one of its own, than looking for convenient ways to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It is shameful that Governors who claim to be duly elected representatives of their States could lower the bar of credibility and integrity just for the sake of dubious politics.
