The former Governor of Rivers State said that growing up in the streets of Port Harcourt was difficult.
A former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, has made a confession.
He confessed that he wore a shirt and a trouser for nearly four years due to poverty.
The former Governor of Rivers State said that growing up in the streets of Port Harcourt was difficult as his family could not even feed.
Amaechi, a former two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term governor and two-term Minister of Transportation, said this in an interview with Daily Sun where he spoke majorly of personal issues rather than politics.
He said, “I grew up in Port Harcourt. Poverty was everywhere, we couldn’t feed, you can hardly eat three times a day, and you can hardly change your cloths.
“In fact, when I tell people that I wore a shirt and a trouser for nearly four years, most people don’t believe it, but my classmates will tell you.
“We are going for a reunion in Umuahia and I usually yab my classmates when we meet at reunions. I would say you see, one of you could have been Mrs Amaechi now, maybe if you had agreed by the time we were in school.
“But because we were very poor, we didn’t have money to feed, we didn’t have cloths to wear, you people didn’t give us attention.
“You people didn’t think we have bright future. But one thing you don’t know about men is that they fight to be relevant. So, for me, I am as simple as life can give.”
Recall that Amaechi, who was a Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum for eight years, came second in the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential election primary prior to the 2023 general elections.
My wife doesn’t even have a car!
Amaechi said that his wife does not even have a car and has to make do with his own back up car.
The former governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi has vowed that he doesn’t like money.
According to him, that’s why his wife doesn’t even have a car.
The former Minister of Transportation, who lost the All Progressives Congress, APC, 2023 presidential primary to Bola Tinubu, had always maintained he does not like money.
Amaechi, who has served as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Governor and as a minister, said he has never been accused of stealing public funds.
Speaking with Daily Sun, he said, “Are you not surprised that I have been in Nigerian politics from when I was 22 till now? I am 60. So, you are talking about 38 years of being in politics.
“What scandals have you heard of me? Have you heard ‘oh, Amaechi stealing money?’ Amaechi is this? Simple! As you entered here, did you see posh cars? My wife doesn’t even have a car. I have to provide my back up car. That is what she drives.
“That is the way we live our life. It is not as if we can’t afford a car, but that is the way we live our life.”
Amaechi served as the Minister of Transportation for eight years under the immediate past government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He played a crucial role in the victory of the APC over the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government in 2015.
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