AMAECHI BLAMES THE NEGLECT OF PH AIRPORT ON RIFT WITH JONATHAN

 Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, on Saturday accused the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, of abandoning the remodeling of the Port Harcourt International Airport because of his rift with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Amaechi, who said this in an interview with Channels Television, said apart from leaving the airport in deplorable state, the minister impounded the aircraft belonging to the state "for no reason."

The governor said he had reported the minister to the President to no avail.

He said, "I have gone to the President and told him that because of the disagreement between Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is not Rivers State, and the President, the minister of aviation has abandoned the airport. They started that airport with Kano, Lagos, Abuja, Benin, and Calabar. The rest have been completed, including Enugu which has been commissioned. It is hatred. The Minister of Aviation is reckless on that."

Amaechi raised the alarm that with the state of the international airport, terrorists could have easy access and attack it at will.

He added that due to his rift with Jonathan, Oduah had prevented the state government from fulfilling its responsibility of securing the state and fighting crimes, including oil theft, using surveillance helicopters that it had paid for.

 "We paid for two surveillance helicopters that would fly around Rivers State (and detect crime) including oil theft and report real time to police, air force, army and the government house. She (Oduah) refused the helicopters from coming. They are there in America and the government of America has been wondering why we don't want to take our plane and the President (Jonathan) is aware," he said.

But in response, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Aviation Minister, Joe Obi, described the allegations as untrue and false, insisting that huge work was going on at the Port Harcourt airport.

"Port Harcourt is among the 11 airports in the first phase of airport remodelling. If you go to that airport now, it is completely different from what it was two or three years ago," Obi said.

WHICH SIDE MINISTER MAKU SUPPORTS IN NASARAWA CRISIS?

The recently registered All Progressives' Congress party (APC) demands to relieve the Information Minister Labaran Maku of his duties as the supervising Minister of Defence. The opposition suspect him of being an interested party in the ongoing Nasarawa State crisis.

In order to end the Nasarawa violence, which claimed several lives and wiped out hundreds of houses, troops were deployed to the state by the Federal Government. It is believed that the crisis was triggered by the infamous Ombatse cult, otherwise known as Ombatse militia group.

Voicing the party's statement on Thursday, its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said that Maku is of the Eggon ethnic group, and the Ombatse cult is of similar origins. This fact, according to APC, makes Maku's new appointment as the Supervising Minister of Defence, untenable.

Whatever steps Maku would take in his new capacity towards solving the Nasarawa crisis, they would be judged and most probably misinterpreted, Mohammed alleged.

It was suggested in the statement that Jonathan should immediately relieve Maku from his new duties, as such practice is widely spread worldwide.

Jonathan directed Maku to take the reins of government of the Defence Ministry, as the Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada, was sacked last week. Until Mrs. Obada was sacked alongside eight other ministers, the ministry had no senior minister.

The APC also noted that the minister did little to help the matters with his recent interview with BBC. Maku has been "economical with the truth," the statement read, and tried to downplay the role of the Nasarawa State Government in solving the conflict and curbing the activities of the Ombatse cult.

"At the instance of the State Government, several meetings have also been held with Eggon leaders and the Eggon Cultural and Development Association (ECDA), to no avail. It is therefore blatantly wrong for the minister, or anyone for that matter, to say the State Government has not initiated dialogue as a means of resolving the crisis.

"Also, the State Governor has been briefing the President, on a regular basis, over the crisis. He has requested for the deployment to the state of a Mobile Police Squadron as well as troops. While the requests were granted, the deployments are just about being carried out, yet Minister Maku gave an erroneous impression concerning the role of the State Government in curtailing the crisis.

"Thirdly, the State Government has compiled and sent to the Federal Government the names and addresses of the suspected leaders and major players in Ombatse, the perpetrator of the violence. The State Government has also instituted a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the violence, while assisting the victims of the violence state-wide.

In conclusion, the APC stressed that Maku (as well as any prominent Eggon citizen) has not expressed his disapproval over the Ombatse attacks on ordinary citizens and security operatives. This, the party says, serves as an excellent evidence to show where their sympathy lies.