Cole to Establish Fund for Businesses in Rivers, Says Amaechi

Former Rivers State Governor and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has re-echoed the pledge by the All Progressives Congres (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State,  Tonye Cole, to establish a hedge fund for businesses in the State to thrive, if elected governor.

Amaechi made the statement yesterday  during his door- to-door campaign for Tonye Cole across strategic markets in Port Harcourt, Obio/Akpor and Oyigbo including, Mile 1 market, Rumuomasi market, Eliozu, Rumunduru, Steel Village, Chippings market, and Timber market.

He told the people to only vote a governor that would care about their wellbeing, not those that would dance to the people’s pain.

“When I was leaving government, we left N50 billion  in what they call hedge fund. Hedge fund is for you to come and borrow at either low or zero interest rate to boost business for Rivers men and women and those who live in Rivers State. They didn’t give you that money.

“This idea, I shared with Tonye Cole and he agreed. As soon as he is voted to power by you, we shall re-establish this hedge fund. Not just to help you do business, it is also to help us create employment,” Amaechi said.

Addressing the people’s concern on whether their votes will count, Amaechi advised them to be resilient like the people in Lagos who insisted that their results must be uploaded even after the BVAS failed, and monitored their results till it was announced at the collation centre.

“On Saturday, go out and vote. No army is stronger than the people. Stand your ground. If they don’t upload, don’t let them go. No INEC officer should leave your unit until he has uploaded result and given a copy to the agent of the parties. If they don’t upload, they should not leave. It is called people’s power. If Tonye Cole (APC) wins on Saturday, things will begin to change from that day.

“This election is between the good and the bad. You have a choice to decide. The power is in your votes. As I was coming (to Rumuomasi) I met four  to five  women who told me, ‘you gave my child scholarship to study overseas.’ I did that because I lived where poor people like me lived, and I know that the poor man can’t afford to take his child abroad, that’s why I instituted a scholarship that took people overseas and trained them. I knew you couldn’t pay doctors, so I established free health care, free health centres. They have been abandoned. We introduced N5,000 to N10,000  antenatal that we give to women to encourage them to come. When you cried, we cried. We did not sing ‘as e dey sweet us, e go dey pain dem…’ we did not do that. When it’s sweet for you, it’s sweet for us.”

“As a governor, I abolished taskforce. No marching ground. I did that because I know it is bad business to pursue (chase away) businesses. I stopped them, because I know what business is. A governor should know the pains of the people. He should only be happy because the people are happy,” Amaechi said.