Former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has dismissed allegations that he denied Rivers people the opportunity of hosting the Dangote Refinery, insisting that the claim was false and misleading.
Naijaonpoint reports that Amaechi, in a reaction sent to his ally and former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct nPDP, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, explained that business mogul Aliko Dangote never approached his administration for land to build a refinery in Rivers.
According to the ex-governor, Dangote had already begun construction of the multi-billion-dollar refinery in Lagos before visiting Port Harcourt, adding that his request was for land to establish a gas plant and not a refinery.
The clarification follows a recent allegation by former federal lawmaker, Chidi Wihioka, who accused Amaechi on national television of frustrating efforts to situate the refinery in Rivers due to alleged personal demands.
Wihioka, who represented Ikwerre/Emohua Constituency in the House of Representatives, claimed that Dangote abandoned the plan after Amaechi allegedly placed conditions before approving land.
Some Rivers elders, including Chief Bob Wali, had subsequently urged Amaechi to respond to the weighty allegation.
In his response, Amaechi insisted that he never made any demands of Dangote, stressing that he allocated land at Onne Seaport for the gas project.
Amaechi said, “I never asked Dangote for anything. I gave him land opposite the Onne seaport. He had already commenced construction of the refinery in Lagos but wanted land for a gas plant.”
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