I Was Responsible for Amaechi’s 2007 Woes – Obasanjo

 

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that he should be held responsible for the travails of the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, before and after the 2007 governorship election.

Obasanjo explained that rather than blame Dr. Peter Odili, who was Amaechi’s predecessor, the state governor should realise that he (Obasanjo) was fully in charge and responsible for his (Amaechi) woes.

It will be recalled that Obasanjo surprisingly denied Amaechi the PDP governorship ticket during the build up to the 2007 general election in Rivers State, declaring the Ikwerre-born politician’s case as having a K-leg.

K-leg is an euphemism used by Obasanjo in 2007 to describe the reason why he did not give Amaechi the governorship ticket.

The matter was later resolved by the Supreme Court, which declared Amaechi the governor of Rivers State.

Speaking on Monday in Eleme Local Government Area while inaugurating some projects executed by the Amaechi administration, the former President added that he had no apologies for taking such a decision seven years ago.

“I want to acknowledge your courage. I phoned the governor; I hope he will remember and I said, ‘Governor Amaechi, don’t take anything against your predecessor because whatever decision was taken about you, hold me responsible, not your predecessor because I was the one fully in charge.

“So, if anything has been done because I took a decision that I believe is right, that I believe I should take when I took it, I have no apologies. This is because I don’t take decisions lightly.

The former President said that he was not in the state for political purpose but to see the developmental strides of the governor.