An Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party chieftain and convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi, has slammed Kio Amachree, the President of Worldview International, Stockholm, Sweden, for his recent attack against the President of Chagoury Group, Gilbert Chagoury.
Showunmi said that it is quite offensive and intellectually lazy for Amachree to have tried in vain to parade the billionaire business mogul as less Nigerian, given the invaluable contributions of Chagoury to the country’s economic prosperity.
The PDP chieftain said that Amachree’s futile attempt to hang a garment of corruption on the highly successful businessman, with allegations of a “$13 billion gift to one man” narrative, is, at best, a distortion and, at worst, deliberate misinformation that remains unfounded and baseless.
Showunmi disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday.
Amachree, in a recent statement, while taking a swipe at President Bola Tinubu, accused the president of doling out $13 billion in government contracts to Chagoury and his network.
He stated, “Amachree’s write-up collapses under the weight of its own contradictions, exaggerations, and ironically the same divisive instincts it claims to condemn.
“First, let’s deal with the most offensive and intellectually lazy premise: that Gilbert Chagoury is somehow “less Nigerian” and therefore an easier target for outrage. That is not just wrong, it is dangerous.
“Gilbert Chagoury is Nigerian by law, by investment, and by decades of continuous engagement with this country. He has lived, built, employed, paid taxes, and taken risks in Nigeria for over half a century.
“Many of the loudest critics, including diaspora commentators writing from comfortable homes abroad, cannot claim that level of sustained commitment. You do not get to emotionally exit a country and then question the legitimacy of those who stayed and built within it.
“If contribution is the metric, then let’s be honest: he has contributed more to Nigeria’s physical and economic landscape than many who dominate online outrage cycles. That is not sentiment, it is measurable reality.”
Showunmi explained that the attempt to reduce complex infrastructure procurement into a simplistic “$13 billion gift to one man” narrative is, at best, a distortion and, at worst, deliberate misinformation.
He stated further that “Large-scale infrastructure projects, coastal highways, port rehabilitation, shoreline protection, are not social media slogans.
“They involve engineering, financing structures, sovereign guarantees, and execution risk at a level most commentators do not even attempt to understand.”
Showunmi disclosed that if there are legitimate concerns, Amachree should waste no further time in presenting documents to back up his unsubstantiated claims, under the “Anything less is noise” principle.
He added, “And since facts matter, let us speak concretely. Look at Eko Atlantic, the stabilization of Victoria Island against Atlantic encroachment, and the coastal engineering behind the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
“These are not abstract claims; they are visible, technical interventions that have reshaped Nigeria’s coastline and protected economic assets. You may debate contracts, but you cannot erase execution.
“Frankly, one has to look at these achievements and wonder how anyone reduces such complexity to a lazy narrative of theft without proof.
“At this point, enough is enough. I strongly encourage the Chagoury Group to consider legal action against defamatory claims and put this embarrassing cycle of uninformed agitation to rest. Public discourse must carry consequences when it abandons facts for sensationalism.
“And to you, Gilbert Chagoury, GCON: thank you for demonstrating what long-term commitment to Nigeria looks like. You have lived the Nigerian Dream in a way many only theorize about.”
