Ex-gov denies fighting Saraki over delayed ministerial confirmation

Ministerial nominee and ex-governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has dismissed reports that he and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, have a score to settle.

In a statement released on Monday, October 19 by his media aide, David Oyofor, it said Amaechi did not visit Saraki at home to register displeasure over his delayed ministerial confirmation as suggested by the media reports.

The statement read; ”There was a report that Amaechi “was incensed over the deferment of his screening last week and stormed Saraki’s house to register his protest. It is absolutely not true.

“There is a deliberate and carefully calibrated attempt to characterize Amaechi with a very bad and demeaning mannerism.

“We must clarify that Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi did not visit and was not at the residence of the Senate President on Thursday of last week. Since he did not go to the residence of the Senate President on Thursday of last week, so, there is absolutely no way what the newspaper sources claimed to have transpired, happened.

“We must emphasize that former Governor Amaechi holds the office of the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in very high esteem and will never disrespect or act in any way that would put the office in disrepute. However, in this case, the incident reported never occurred either on Thursday or any other day.

“While we understand the constraints and pressures journalists face in doing their jobs, we would advise them to be thorough and double-check or even triple-check their sources of information.

There seems to exist an axis of fifth columnists, masquerading as ‘sources’ to journalists, but fabricate events, incidences and stories that never happened to malign and destroy the character and reputation of others, while fomenting acrimony and bad blood in the polity. Journalists must beware of such ‘sources'".