Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has alleged that he was almost killed in 2015 due to his support for President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking in Kano yesterday, the minister recalled that he was once forced to drive out of the state at 1am just to stay alive.
Amaechi, who appealed to Kano delegates to vote for him considering the numerous achievements he has attracted to the state as minister, said his commitment to providing employment through infrastructure development for the people of Kano made him to site the biggest railway project in the state, adding that if elected president, he would focus on more development projects in the area.
“I speak to your conscience, let us see how your conscience will prick you on the day of voting, so that you look at your God; look at your ballot paper and vote for your conscience. I was here in Kano as a governor of Rivers State, when I got information that they were after my life.
“They refused to allow me fly out of Kano. I had to take my destiny in my hands and started praying to God, and I drove from here to Abuja by 1am to stay alive. The reason why they wanted me dead was because I was supporting Muhammadu Buhari for President.
“When President Buhari appointed me minister, the first railway project I thought was important was Lagos to Kano. I had started working on the Kano-Kaduna railway before I resigned. I had visited Kano more than three times, inspecting that railway project and presently, we have achieved between eighty to one hundred kilometers of rail line already.
“Even though we have not placed the track, we have done the foundation. Your Governor told you about Dala Inland Dry Port. Dala Inland Dry Port had been in the ministry of Transportation for twenty years. I could have declined approval of the project but I knew that the economy of Kano people is large and I needed to create employment for Kano people.
“So, I immediately approved the project, and I asked the contractor that I want to commission it. I could have commissioned it before I left the ministry but I wanted the President to commission it. Before I resigned, we had gone for final inspection and we were ready to commission.
“I visited Dala Inland Dry Port with your Governor and I saw some small children running to us, and I asked both the Governor and the owner of Dala Inland Dry Port, what are you people doing to these children? They’re of school age and they’re not in school. Immediately, I told the owner of the Dala Inland Dry Port that I would not give him a license if he did not build a school for the children. I also told him not only to build a school, they (children) must attend the school free of charge. Today, that school is completed and he will hand it over to the government,” he said.
To this end, Amaechi said, “It means that I have the people of Kano in my heart, it means that I love you, it means that I am tested and trusted. Please, compare me to others; don’t vote based on sentiments, vote for me because I have the capacity. Check my records, look at all the offices that I have occupied before, what did I achieve? And see if I have not achieved enough to qualify for your votes.
“So, when you match out that day, match out with your conscience in your hand. If you want us to move forward, if you want the economy of Kano to expand further, to create employment, vote for me. I have created employment in Kano by the mere fact that I approved Dala Inland Port. The Kano-Kaduna railway has created nothing less than twenty thousand employment opportunities.
“People will ask you how you paid me back for the things I did for Kano. You need to encourage me by voting for me. You have about four hundred and sixty something delegate votes, give me those votes, don’t waste it; it will be a total waste to take it somewhere else.
“I know what poverty is and I will chase away poverty, because the reason for banditry is lack of availability. We will provide opportunity for everybody and chase the bandits out of town. I have done it before as a governor. By God’s grace and by the grace of the people of Nigeria, I will chase bandits away.
“What you must do is to vote for me and I promise you, together, we will develop Kano State and Nigeria. One thing I will focus on in Kano is social housing, because when you’re building you are creating jobs and you’re creating accommodation for people,” he said.
