Corruption evidence against Amaechi overwhelming -Wike

RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom
Wike yesterday declared that the
evidence of corruption against
the immediate past Governor of
Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi is
so overwhelming that the Minister of Transportation admitted to them publicly.
According to a statement
yesterday and signed by his Special Assistant on Electronic media, Simeon Nwakaudu, the governor made the disclosure when he was addressing the 106th Quarterly Meeting of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port
Harcourt. Governor Wike said that Amaechi admitted paying $39million for a non-existent Justice Karibi Whyte Mega Specialist Hospital.
He added that the former
governor confessed publicly that he sold the state’s gas turbines which the immediate past administration diverted the funds. Governor Wike said: “All the documents that proved Amaechi’s corrupt acts are authentic. We never forged documents. The former governor himself admitted that he paid out $39million to Clinotech, without a single block laid anywhere. Is that a document he claims was forged? Where is the Hospital?
“He has agreed in different
interviews that he sold the state gas turbines for $309million. Convert $309million United States dollars to Naira and you will understand the level of fraud. Amaechi left only
$204,000 in the state account.
“The bank statements of the
pattern of withdrawals from that
account are there for all to see.
Can that be forged? The dates and amounts withdrawn are clearly written.”
The governor berated the
Minister of Transportation for
engaging in the blackmail of the
Supreme Court because his appeal is pending before the apex court over the establishment of the
Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry. “There is no time that he loses a case without blackmailing the Judiciary. He feels that the only way he can do it is to blackmail the
Supreme Court. You cannot play
politics with everything.”
On the use of hotels for electoral
fraud, the governor warned that
any hotel that opens its facility for electoral fraud and malpractice would lose its operational certificate
of occupancy.
He said: “Any hotel that is used to
rig elections, that hotel’s certificate of occupancy will be withdrawn. I will not all that anymore.”
He regretted that the former
Rivers State Governor has
continued to work against the
interest of the state, refusing to use his position as minister to attract benefits to the people.
Speaking further, he warned
traditional rulers against working with armed gangs to cause insecurity in their communities.
Earlier, the chairman of Rivers
State Council of Traditional Rulers and Amayanabo of Opobo, King Dandeson Jaja, commended the governor for commencement of the
reconstruction of 175 public schools across the state.
He also appealed to the governor
to set up a process to check the sale of illicit drugs in the state.