Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman has said that former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, is crawling back to life after a failed presidential bid.
Recall that Amaechi was one of those who sought the presidential ticket of the All-Progressives Congress (APC) after resigning from the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari. He came second in the presidential primaries won by President Bola Tinubu. Tinubu had reportedly subsequently snubbed him and aligned with his former ‘godson’, Nyesom Wike, who is the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Wike was Minister under then President Goodluck Jonathan and Amaechi was governor when the duo fell apart. However, by the time Amaechi became a minister, Wike was governor. However, as things stand now, one has an active political office, while the other does not.
Apparently riding on this in the face-off with her former supervisor, Hadiza Bala Usman, who is the immediate-past Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) slammed Amaechi, saying he is now seeking relevance. She said this while reacting to the salvo the former Minister fired at her at the annual lecture organised an online publication, The Niche.
Amaechi had accused Bala Usman of documenting false narrative in her book titled: “Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority”. In the book, she chronicled her emergence and struggles while she served as managing director of NPA.
Responding, in an issued statement, Bala Usman said she had responded to virtually all the allegations levelled against her.
According to her, “He made so much fuss about whether I gave him a birthday gift or not. While this is a trivial issue, the question he should answer is whether he complained to someone that I never gave him a birthday gift as Minister or not.
“It is a good thing to see that the former Minister has finally recovered from his failed presidential bid and is crawling back into public life. However, he should not and cannot make Hadiza Bala Usman the subject of his attempt at a rebound”.
“Amaechi would definitely have his perspective of the events of the five years I served Nigeria as Managing Director of the NPA under his supervision. There is no problem with that; but when he shares his perspective, I suggest that he endeavours to stick to the facts and resist the apparently usually overwhelming urge to speak arbitrarily and spread falsehood”, she stated.
