Rotimi Amaechi

He had his early education at St Theresa's Primary School from 1970 to 1976. He earned his West African Senior School Certificate in 1982 after attending Government Secondary School Okolobiri.

Amaechi received a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours) in English Studies and Literature from the University of Port Harcourt in 1987, where he was the President of the National Union of Rivers State Students (NURSS).

He completed the mandatory National Youth Service Corps in 1988, and thereafter joined Pamo Clinics and Hospitals Limited owned by Peter Odili, where he worked until 1992. He also a director of several companies, including West Africa Glass Industry Limited and Risonpalm Nigeria Limited.

Amaechi's first office in politics was as Secretary of the now defunct National Republican Convention in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. Between 1992 and 1994, he was Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili. He was the Rivers State's Secretary of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) caretaker committee after in 1996 during the transition programme of General Sani Abacha.[10]

Peter Odili believed in Amaechi as a young man with potential in politics, and brought him under his wing. Their relationship further increased translated into a harmonious relationship between the Executive and Legislative arms of government in Rivers State, until when Rotimi Amaechi launched a campaign against the State Government, and verbally attacked the image of the State Governor, in an effort to succeed Peter Odili as governor in 2007.

In 1999, he contested and won a seat to become a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly to represent his constituency. He was subsequently elected as the Speaker of the House of Assembly. Amaechi was elected the Chairman of Nigeria's Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies. He was reelected into the State House of Assembly in May 2003 and was also re-elected as the Speaker. In 2003 when the National Assembly moved to hijack the legislative functions of the State house of Assembly as enshrined in the constitution, he and his colleagues took the matter to Nigeria's supreme court and the court gave a judgment that the control and supervision of local government is the prerogative of the State House of Assembly.

Amaechi contested and won the People's Democratic Party primary for Rivers State Governor in 2007. His name was substituted by the party, an action which he challenged in court. The case eventually got to the Supreme Court. He became governor on October 26, 2007, after the Supreme Court ruled that he was the rightful candidate of the PDP and winner of the April 2007 Governorship election in Rivers State. He was reelected for a second term of four years in April 2011.

His administration invested in infrastructure development, construction of roads and bridges, sticking to the vision of connecting all parts of the state by road. The governor was also committed to urban renewal and modernization of transportation services. His administration began building a monorail to provide mass transportation within the city of Port Harcourt.[11] Some power plant projects (Afam, Trans Amadi, Onne) were also built to improve power supply in the State.[12]

Amaechi currently heads the Federal Ministry of Transportation.