Amaechi Treated Me Badly, Denied Me Severance Benefit - Laments Tele Ikuru

 

Former Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Tele Ikuru, has lamented that his former boss, Chibuike Amaechi, did not appreciate his service to the state.

Tele Ikuru, former Deputy Governor, Rivers State

He said despite the eight years he served as deputy governor, Amaechi did not give him any severance benefit as he gave to others.

Ikuru spoke on Sunday at St. Simons Anglican Church, Ikuru-Town in Andoni Local Government Area of the state during a thanksgiving service he organised to thank God for his successful eight years of service in the state.

He stated that Amaechi treated him badly despite his contribution to the government.His words: “I served this government for seven years and seven months under Amaechi, because I was with Omehia for five months. At the end of the seven years and seven month,s Amaechi did not think that I deserve any parting gift in spite of the fact that in the course of this administration, by reason of the office I occupied, I returned several monies to him valued over N2 billion cash at different times during one work or the other.

“By reason of my contribution to this government, I also saved this government not less than a hundred billion naira over the period. At the end of the seven years and seven months, my boss left me hard and dry, nothing and no penny to go home with.”

He, however, said he was thankful to God for all that happened, adding that he had never expected reward from man in all he has done in life.

He said he would rather look up to God for his reward, observing that with the thanksgiving, he was sure that God would remember him.

He thanked God for his grace and faithfulness to him and his family during the eight years of service to the state as well as those who stood by him especially during the times of challenges and difficulties during the recent period of indecision.

Meanwhile, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has praised Ikuru for his meritorious service to the state during his eight years as deputy governor.

Wike, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Kenneth Kobani, at the service, described Ikuru as a wonderful servant to the state, pointing out that he finished very strong in view of his outstanding legacies.

He observed that it was Ikuru’s track record that starred him out to head the transition committee that ushered in the present government.

“His Excellency has asked me to join you in this thanksgiving service, and to say our brother, Tele Ikuru, had been a wonderful servant to Rivers State. He served the state meritoriously and finish very strong. That is why at the time we needed someone to midwife the transition government, we did not have to look anywhere else, but to look at Tele Ikuru to lead us,” he asserted.

He said the government and people of Rivers State would forever remain grateful to Ikuru for what he has done, urging him to always remain steadfast, bearing in mind that God knows best all that happened to him.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, also lauded Ikuru for his humble and peaceful disposition which he noted stems out from his upbringing from a humble family.

Secondus likened Ikuru to his father who, during his days in the civil service, served with all sense of diligence, humility and faithfulness, returning money to government, saying he was not surprise that the former deputy governor was not part of those who looted government properties in the past administration.

Amaechi Treated Me Badly, Denied Me Severance Benefit - Laments Tele Ikuru

APC Declares Rivers Deputy Gov. Tele Ikuru As Judas

•Exonerates Gov. Amaechi

The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has branded Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru the modern Judas who is willing to sell his master for material gain. The party in a statement issued Sunday afternoon in Port Harcourt by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, lambasted Engr. Tele Ikuru for his unprovoked attack on Governor Chibuike Amaechi, a man who picked him from the gutter and made him whom he has become politically.

Tele Ikuru, Deputy Governor, Rivers State

“We read with shock the description of Governor Amaechi as ‘irresponsible’ by Engr. Tele Ikuru during his ill-fated press conference in Port Harcourt few days ago, which he addressed in his new capacity as the Chairman of the Transition Committee set up by Chief Nyesome Wike, the INEC-declared Governor of Rivers State. It is sad that after serving as Amaechi’s Deputy for over seven years, Ikuru, who several times in the past described Gov. Amaechi as the Hero of Rivers Politics and the best political exponent from the State, is suddenly singing a different tune. This is the height of ingratitude and paints Ikuru in his true colours as a Judas who is ever ready to sell his master for mundane gain,” Rivers APC said.

The party described Ikuru’s attack on Amaechi as unwarranted, saying: “Amaechi’s love for Ikuru is legendary. He chose him as his Deputy despite Ikuru having teamed up with Sir Celestine Omehia and others to frustrate Amaechi’s governorship ambition during the ill-fated PDP Primaries of 2007. With God’s intervention the Supreme Court in its wisdom revalidated Amaechi’s mandate as the authentic PDP guber candidate, thus making him the Governor.

“In 2011, against the advice of many well-meaning Rivers people, Amaechi went ahead to again select Ikuru as his running mate as he successfully sought re-election. It is also instructive that Governor Amaechi has refrained from either speaking ill of Engr. Ikuru or engineering his removal as Deputy Governor despite his defection from APC to the opposition PDP shortly before the 2015 elections. For Ikuru to now have the effrontery to describe his benefactor, a fellow who loves him with all his heart and who on various occasions left the running of Rivers State in his care, as a disgraceful leader does not only show him as an ingrate of the highest order but also indicates that Engr. Ikuru may need to subject himself to psychiatric tests.”

Rivers APC said while it is understandable for Ikuru to be tempted to engage in excesses in view of Wike’s promise to appoint him as the Secretary to State Government (SSG), he should tread with caution, especially as the declaration of Wike as Governor would soon be reversed by the Election Petition Tribunal.

The party congratulated the gubernatorial candidates of KOWA party, Mr. Kemka Elenwo; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Charles Harry; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr. Minaibim Harry; and Labour Party (LP), Prince Tonye Princewill, for joining APC’s governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to challenge Wike’s purported election at the Election Petition Tribunal. “With the evidences adduced by all these great Rivers State leaders, we are confident that bloodthirsty desperados who believe that they can seize the governorship seat by hook or crook will soon be put to shame and showed the exit door by the Tribunal,” Rivers APC stated.

APC Declares Rivers Deputy Gov. Tele Ikuru As Judas

Tele Ikuru, Amaechi’s deputy shuns Rivers exco meeting

The Rivers State Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, was conspicuously absent at Wednesday’s State Executive Council meeting held at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

Ikuru’s absence may not be unconnected with his defection from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday.

The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, who confirmed the deputy governor’s absence at the executive council meeting, disclosed that Ikuru had yet to submit his formal resignation letter from APC to the council.

Semenitari explained that Ikuru, who is the Vice Chairman of the State Executive Council, maintained that the deputy governor’s defection to the PDP would not affect electoral fortunes of the APC in the state.

“Today, we held our weekly State Executive Council meeting. The only person that is absent at the meeting was the Vice Chairman of the council and Deputy Governor of the state, His Excellency, Engr. Tele Ikuru.

“The meeting was chaired by His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. We want to notify the media that as of today, no formal resignation letter of His Excellency, the Deputy Governor, has reached the Chairman of Exco.

“Chairman of exco briefed exco members that he had read in the media of reports of the defection of His Excellency, the Deputy Governor. Exco also received information from members of Exco from Andoni, His Excellency, the Deputy Governor’s local government area, that indeed he (deputy governor) has been received by the Peoples Democratic Party.

“Therefore, that means that he has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party. His Excellency, the Governor, has told Exco that this does not in any way affect the position of His Excellency, the Deputy Governor as the Deputy Governor of the state,” she said.

Semenitari pledged the loyalty of 31 members of the State Executive Council, including the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. George Feyii, advisers and commissioners to the State Governor and Chairman of the council, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and the APC.

Explaining that Ikuru’s defection to the PDP would not affect his position as the deputy governor of the state, the commissioner stressed that none of the governor’s aides had left the APC for any other party and had no intention to abandon the party.

“Exco resolved that members of the Exco will remain committed to His Excellency, the Governor, and the good people of Rivers State. All members of Exco who belong to the All Progressives Congress remain members of the All Progressives Congress.

“None of us has resigned his position with the APC and none of us intends to resign our position with the APC,” the commissioner assured.

Tele Ikuru, Amaechi’s deputy shuns Rivers exco meeting