Amaechi Blew Rivers’ N300bn –Wike…Owes Zenith, GTB, Fidelity, Access Banks N112billion
Amaechi Blew Rivers’ N300bn –Wike…Owes Zenith, GTB, Fidelity, Access Banks N112billion
The lid is gradually being lifted on the management of the finances of Rivers State by Governor Rotimi Amaechi as Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, who had been his bossom ally and confidant, has alleged that the governor cannot account for N300bn belonging to the state.Wike said Amaechi had mismanaged the money, out of which he also alleged, N11billion was allegedly given to Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to finance his campaigns.
Amaechi, The UNION learnt, had been pencilled down to become Chief of Staff to Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, in the event he becomes president. Wike, who is also PDP governorship candidate in Rivers State, further said that Amaechi’s administration is the “most corrupt regime in the country”, alleging that the governor had between January and November 2014 squandered over N298billion that accrued to the state from the Federation Accounts and loans obtained from various commercial banks. Barrister Wike further alleged that Amaechi had between December 2014 and January 2015, through the Government House and the Office of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, expended N11billion, believed to have been channelled into the Buhari Campaign Organization.
A statement signed by Wike’s media aide, Simeon Nwakudu, and made available to The UNION, quoted the governorship hopeful as speaking during the Rivers State PDP Governorship Campaign Rally in Port Harcourt Local Government Area last Tuesday. Barrister Wike said that the massive corrupt expenditure of the over N300billion just for 2014 and the first month of 2015 excludes the internally generated revenue of Rivers State, which has been pegged at several billions of naira monthly. Giving a breakdown of the alleged mass corrupt practices by the outgoing governor, Barrister Wike stated that between January and November 2014, the Amaechi administration received N185billion from the Federation Account. He added that within the same period under review, the administration took loans from Zenith Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank totalling over N112billion.
Wike said: “These are facts duly obtained from government sources. They are not newspaper reports. They are authenticated facts of revenue received by the outgoing government of Rotimi Amaechi. Before the people of Nigeria, this is the most corrupt administration ever seen in this state. This is an administration that has short changed our people. “From the details of expenditure at our disposal, these funds have been used to sponsor opposition activities and the campaigns of General Muhammadu Buhari. Most of the monies were channelled to non-existent or non functional projects, with the funds pocketed by the outgoing governor.
For instance, Amaechi paid N500million for a non-existent new bridge in Abonnema. He paid N2billion for the Trans-Kalabari road where nothing has been done by his administration. For the Port Harcourt Centenary celebration, Amaechi expended almost N1billion and he released N1.7billion for the production of international passports”, Wike said. He added that the outgoing administration expended N330million for the protection of Rivers State from terrorism. Also speaking at a rally in Obio/Akpor, Wike, who described Amaechi as a hypocrite, further said the governor lives outside what he says publicly. According to him, Amaechi takes N800million monthly as special impress while in May 2014 the governor allegedly took N1billion from the coffer of the state government for court cases against the Rivers State Government. Wike alleged that the court matter does not exist. Wike further claimed that in January 2014, about N6billion was released for undisclosed projects at the Government House. Wike, who was once Amaechi’s Campaign Director, also alleged that the governor allegedly sold a power plant in the state for $140 million and used $33million of it to sponsor APC presidential primaries in December last year while another N75 million was spent funding APC visit to Chatham House London..
Wike further alleged that in May 12, 2014 Amaechi released N5billion for the failed monorail project with another N1 billion spent on the same project last December while N2 billion was purportedly spent on the establishment of mega transport terminal. Wike challenged Amaechi claims to be fighting corruption and asked the governor to show the world any project he executed or completed last year, despite the huge internally generated revenue base of the state which average is about N8billion monthly. According to Wike, Amaechi planned to invade Obio/Akpor during the elections so as to perfect an alleged APC rigging scripts because Obio/ Akpor boast of more than one million voters out of the 2.8 million registered voters in the state. The former chairman of Obio/Akpor local government council accused the governor of not fulfilling his promises to Obio/Akpor people such as the building of a model secondary school in the area while several roads in the area are impassable due to neglect.
The rally which has a carnival mood featured performances by various Nigerian artistes while actors and actresses from Nollywood addressed the rally. The Rivers State PDP Governorship candidate said the lack of accountability in the Amaechi administration explains why he is fronting for known cultists to take over the administration of the state. He noted that the Rivers political leadership and the followership have jointly resolved never to allow another corrupt administration to emerge from the outgoing Amaechi’s corrupt regime.
Also speaking, National Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus alleged that the outgoing Rivers governor had procured Army, Naval and Police uniforms to be distributed to his political thugs from the state, and others imported from the north, to ensure that they rigged the election if it had been held on February 14. He said the same procurement of uniforms was carried out by APC governors, adding that the plan of the APC was to plunge the nation into needless crisis. Secondus said despite APC’s evil machinations, President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP will win the forthcoming elections. Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara, who also graced the event, said Amaechi failed the people of Rivers State by merely squandering their resources with no projects on ground to show. Also at the rally was former governors Peter Odili and Celestine Omehia.
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