Amaechi Speaks On What Made Him Invade Rivers Assembly

Governor Rotimi Amaechi broke his silence, for the first time, over his presence at State House of Assembly when five lawmakers attempted to impeach the Speaker in a House of 32 lawmakers.

“I used to be the speaker of the house and the law is that you are not even allowed to bring your walking stick in when entering. How did these people manage to bring in thugs, weapons, a fake mace and cause mayhem while the police were not only looking on but aiding them?”

Amaechi said he went to the Assembly to restore order, which had broken down when five lawmakers, said to be agents of Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, attempted to impeach the Speaker without the required number.

“When I heard the members of the Assembly had been attacked by thugs, I went there with my security attache to rescue them because the police assigned to the Assembly had been compromised. 

“I abhor violence. The first thing to condemn are the policemen who had refused to perform their duties of protecting the lawmakers,” he said.

The governor spoke at the Chatham House in Central London where he delivered a lecture. Amaechi also said that the current political crisis involving him was “based on the assumption that I want to run for 2015 elections”.

“But again, there is no law that criminalises ambition in Nigeria, it is sad because people do everything to bring you down. If this crisis continues, one group will lose and that is the people of Rivers State.”

A crowd of Rivers State’s indigenes was at Chatham House. They carried placards, praising Amaechi’s good work. Many of them are students enjoying the state’s scholarship scheme designed to improve manpower.