by Azubuike Azikiwe

The first lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan has reacted to the comments made by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, that he fell out with her over his refusal to give her money from the state’s funds.

On Saturday, 25 October, while speaking in Port Harcourt at the joint graduation of the students of the University of Ibadan and pioneer graduates of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Amaechi had stated that things went sour between both of them because her didn’t acquiesce to her demands for money.

He had reportedly said, “I refused to give them money in Abuja because if I do that, I won’t be able to carry out any development project or finish the road from Rumuolumeni to Rumuepirikom. The quarrel between me and the wife of the President is because she said I should bring your money, Rivers people, money and share with her.”

Twenty four hours later on Sunday, 26 October, Patience Jonathan responded to the Governor’s allegations through a statement released by her spokesperson, Ayo Adewuyi, saying that Amaechi’s statement was “a deliberate attempt to malign her and score cheap political point”.

She stated that it was impossible for her to have made such demands from the Governor, while urging him to halt his “guerilla political warfare”.

The statement read, “Having waited patiently for Governor Amaechi to refute the statement credited to him about the First Lady, (with the assumption that he was misquoted), it has become clear that it was a deliberate attempt to malign Dame Patience Jonathan and score cheap political point.

“The governor may have been beclouded by the political uncertainty surrounding him to make such a jaundiced and unsubstantiated allegation that the First Lady asked him to bring Rivers State’s money to share. This is a blatant lie designed to denigrate the person of Dame Patience Jonathan and rubbish the Presidency. This is to say the least, most unfortunate.”

“It is crystal clear that Governor Amaechi is looking for a cheap excuse for his failure in the governance of the state. We say without any iota of equivocation that the First Lady never made such a request and could not have done so in any way either directly and indirectly. The First Lady as an indigene of Rivers State is more concerned with the socio-economic development of the state and in a peaceful atmosphere. This guerilla political warfare must stop,” the statement concluded.