… Amaechi says governance has failed in Rivers
Leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Rivers State has blamed a local vigilante group, in the employment of the Ikwerre Local Government Council, over Friday’s alleged attack on Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
This was as Amaechi, on Friday, March 6, 2026, expressed concern over what he described as the lack of effective governance in the state.
His statement came on the heels of an attack on his person and the ADC secretariat at his hometown, Ubima, in Ikwerre Local Government Area.
Leader Samson, state chairman of the ADC, in a radio interview, criticised what he described as the failure of Siminalayi Fubara, state governor, to speak out against the recent attack on Amaechi.
Sampson, while speaking on the alleged attack on the ADC secretariat and Amaechi at Ubima, said the silence of the state government for more than two days after the event raises serious concerns.
“For more than 48 hours, a former governor of this state, a former minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was attacked on his way to his community for (party membership) registration. The governor, till today, has not uttered a word, and he is the chief security officer of the state.
“I’m saying it without apology, that Siminalayi Fubara has failed in his primary responsibility as the governor of Rivers State and as the chief security officer.
“The primary aim of government is to protect life and property. And if a former minister, a former governor, can be attacked on his way to his community, to date, the governor has not said anything, the governor has not put in people to investigate what happened that day. It means the governor has failed.
Sampson also urged the Police to invite and ensure the interrogation of Charles Wobodo, chairman of the LGA, over the alleged attack on the former minister.
“We got to Omuanwa, and the road was blocked by people he is calling OSPAC (local vigilante group). But we know that they are hoodlums.
“They used a Sienna vehicle donated by Ikwerre Local Government and blocked a government road. The intention was to block His Excellency from going to register in Ubima. I want to thank the security agencies for their professionalism. They intervened, and they ensured that those hoodlums did not kill anybody.
“What he (Wobodo) has done is to encourage criminality in the local government, and I’m calling on the security agencies to arrest him and investigate him.
“He has so much information at his disposal, he knows the boys that attacked us, and we learned that that place is his community. How come in other communities we went through, we saw OSPAC on the road, they did not block the road? We got to his own community, and the road was blocked,” he said.
Meanwhile, Amaechi, who is also a former governor of Rivers State, frowned at the presence of huge refuse heaps on major roads of Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He suggested that governance had failed since he left as governor, adding that “the reason there is refuse all over is that they are not paying the refuse contractors. Or, if they are paying them, they are not supervising them.
“When I was a governor, you would see me on the streets. Because you (contractors) can’t take government money and go home to sleep,” he said.
