The Inter-ethnic Network for Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (INCRA) has described as baseless, allegations raised against Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, in an interview granted by Chief Allwell Onyesoh, adding that the said interview contained “some reviling statements, lacking in thought and caution.”

The group said in a statement issued on Sunday in Port harcourt: “Ordinarily, our first reaction would have been to ignore the unaccountable, disoriented and incoherent assertions made by Chief Allwell against the person of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Honourable Minister of Transportation and leader of the Rivers State APC, most of which were baseless and borne out of spite. However, we are constrained to put facts in the right perspectives so the unsuspecting public are not caught in his web of lies.”

The statement also reads: “Obviously overtaken by envy and greed, Mr. Allwell did not spare any word in expressing his long-standing resentment, aversion and ill-will towards his benefactor. Going through the interview one could note with ease the faulty grammatical expressions and the unrefined choice of words employed to express himself despite his claim of being the most competent and qualified person for appointments in Rivers State. More so, it readily depicts a picture of a man who is envious and embittered about the simple fact that his supposed brother whom he considers his contemporary is now ahead of him and leads him.

“This is not a question of competence or incompetence. It is purely an instance of self-absorption, avarice and a deflated ego. Allwell Onyesoh should have known that in the well adjusted person the ego is the executive of the personality and is governed by the reality principle. The reality here is that Amaechi is by default or conscious effort, ahead of him. This is a position he is helpless about and must accept in good-faith.

“It is evident that, Chief Allwell has lost touch with the prevailing political realities, otherwise, he would have reckoned with the fact that though Amaechi may be his friend and coeval, he (Amaechi) is now light years ahead of him and should be seen in that regard.

“Mr. Allwell killed off every jot of credibility in his interview when he denied ignorance (knowledge) of an assault on one Nnamdi Nworgu by his supporters believably for his open support for the new political leader of Etche LGA APC. While it may be true that he did not directly attack the said Nnamdi, it is possible that he may have tacitly goaded his boys to do so given the level of desperation he exhibited shortly after he was deposed as the leader of the Etche APC for reasons strongly linked to perennial incapacity.

“For the records, it is important for Allwell to understand that his comparison with Amaechi is only to the extent that they were political contemporaries. However, Amaechi has always been ahead of him. For instance, when he was a Commissioner, an appointee in Dr. (Peter) Odili’s government, Amaechi was heading the Legislative arm of government as Speaker of the State House of Assembly. The main reason Wike called him a betrayer and deliberately, with concerted efforts blocked him from reaping where he did not sow during Amaechi’s first tenure was because he abandoned his supposed brother and escaped to London under the pretence that he was going back to school during the K-leg saga only to return soon after Amaechi had won his case and became Governor.

“It smacks of cupidity that after serving as a Commissioner for Education under Sir Odili’s government, Chief Allwell went ahead to accept an appointment as the head of the post primary schools board under Amaechi’s government. As a former Commissioner for Education and presumably a ‘political general’ with vast followership, would it not have been honourable to have declined the appointment and recommend one of his numerous followers since he considered the appointment degrading?

“But No! The self-serving, self-absorbed, self-centred and self-styled political general of Etche did not find any of his followers worthy of becoming a Board Director. Actuated by greed, Chief Allwell demoted himself. Why does he now turn around to whine years later? Obviously, he is broke as usual.

“We closely observed that a significant part of Allwell’s interview bothered on trivialities and kvetching. Whining and whingeing over why he was not considered for the post of SSG to Chief of Staff to DG NIMASA, to EDFA NDDC and ED NPA, he has inadvertently underscored his main reason for the diatribes against Amaechi to be driven only by personal gains. Chief Allwell did not fail to impress it on his audience that he thinks so highly of himself as the only person qualified for any juicy appointment in the state, a situation that has constrained us to believe he is in a personality crisis.

“Why does Allwell feel more qualified than every other person who has been appointed in his stead? It is funny that the same man who graduated with an ordinary pass grade from the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Jos, thinks himself more qualified and fit to be Amaechi’s Chief of Staff over Sir Tony Okocha, a masters degree holder in International relations. By Allwell’s claims, Tony Okocha was a greenhorn who lacked the experiential qualifications to man the office of the Chief of Staff, Rivers State Government House. Allwell forgot so soon that at the time he was made a Commissioner under Dr. Odili, he was merely the Chairman of a political party in Etche LGA, the UNCP, whereas, Tony Okocha had gained the requisite political experience needed as he was an Executive Assistant to the Chairman of Council and later a Caretaker Committee Chairman in his Obio/Akpor LGA.

“We struggled so hard to understand the backdrop against which Allwell Onyesoh expected Amaechi to have declined his Ministerial nomination but we were disappointed by the vagueness associated with that statement. Obviously, Allwell was also expecting to be appointed a Minister ahead of Amaechi, another envy-stricken assertion.

“It is hypocritical that after accusing Amaechi of centring his appointments in one Senatorial District, Allwell Onyesoh is also struggling to prove his support for someone from the same Senatorial District to become Governor. And we ask, is Allwell himself not fit to become a Governor? Clearly, Allwell’s assertions are packed full with contradictions symptomatic of a man who has lost his political bearing.

“Surprising and worrisome also, is the fact that the titular political general of Etche and Deputy Director-General of the Greater Together Campaign Organisation of the APC in the 2015 general elections could not win his LGA on five different electoral windows from the March 2015 Presidential elections, the April 2015 Governorship elections, the March 2016 re-run elections, the December 10, 2016 rerun elections to the December 19, 2016 supplementary elections.

“This calls to question the sincerity with which he performed his duties as the Deputy DG of the Greater Together Campaign Organisation. It also suggests a possible and deliberate sabotage of the said elections by the literally disgruntled Allwell Onyesoh in view of his outbursts in his interview. Agreeably, no good strategist would retain such an ineffectual commander who cannot produce results.

“To advance minority and majority arguments as his reasons for supporting a particular candidate over another shows how politically empty Allwell Onyesoh is. A quick excursion into the cradle of Rivers State’s political history reveals that the state has produced indigenous Governors that were from minority ethnic groups. Chief (Rufus) Ada-George and of course Dr. Peter Odili whom Allwell served under, were all from the minority, yet they became Governors.

“It beats us hollow down that the self-acclaimed political general could not advance strong, reasonable and convincing argument as to why he prefers a particular candidate over the other, rather than this parochial and lame ethnic sentiment.

“It is easy to see that Allwell Onyesoh was economical with the truth or that his memory failed him when he claimed he got nothing while serving under Amaechi. Allwell Onyesoh was impecunious and poverty-stricken when Amaechi picked him up from his lowly state and gave him a new lease on life by appointing him as a Board Director. Of course as you might rightly guess, the profligate Allwell had already squandered whatever wealth he may have made under Odili as Commissioner and was insolvent. We recall vividly that Allwell was particularly noted for his rickety creamy white Crysla salon car, perhaps the only remaining reminder that he was once a Commissioner. Allwell should do well to tell the world how and when he was able to buy the apartment he currently occupies at Amadi Flat in Port Harcourt.

“He should desist forthwith from blaming his incorrigible profligacy on Amaechi or anyone else and blame himself alone for his depravity. His lack of prudence was his bane as he was adequately given the necessary encouragement and support under Amaechi’s government.

“We advise Mr. Allwell Onyesoh to put on his thinking cap and try to recall where he abandoned his family. It is unthinkable that a man who seeks to occupy sensitive public offices could desert his family for years without knowing their whereabouts.

“It is our expectations that Chief Allwell will test his political prowess and popularity by picking up the gubernatorial forms in 2019, and stop hoping to be spoon-fed with appointments by his political contemporaries.”

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