Governorship candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State,
Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, has
accused Governor Chibuike Rotimi
Amaechi of running the most corrupt
administration in Nigeria. He alleged that between January and
November 2014, Amaechi squandered
over N298billion that accrued to the state
from the Federation Accounts and loans
obtained from various commercial banks. Wike, who spoke at the PDP governorship
campaign rally in Port Harcourt, further
alleged that between December 2014 and
January 2015, the governor, through the
Government House and the Office of the
Secretary to the Rivers State Government expended N11 billion, believed to have
been channelled into the campaign
machinery of the presidential candidate of
the All Progressives Congress (APC)
General Muhammadu Buhari. He 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 Amaechi, the PDP
governorship hopeful stated that between
January and November 2014, the Amaechi
administration received N185billion from
the Federation Account. Wike further stated 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. He 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 is the most corrupt administration ever seen in this state. An
administration that has shortchanged 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 money were
channelled to non-existent or non functional projects, with the funds
pocketed by the outgoing governor. “For instance, Amaechi paid N500 million
for a non existent new Bridge in
Abonnema. He paid N2 billion for the
Trans-Kalabari road where nothing has
been done by his administration. For the
Port Harcourt Centenary celebration, Amaechi expended almost N1 billion and
he released N1.7billion for the production
of international passports.” The former minister of state for Education
stated that the outgoing administration
expended N330million for the protection
of Rivers State from terrorism. The governorship hopeful said the lack of
accountability in the Amaechi
administration explains why he is fronting
known cultists to take over the
administration of the state. He noted that
the Rivers State 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 at the rally, deputy national
chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche
Secondus, alleged that Amaechi 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, 2015. Secondus 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 a
needless crisis. But the Rivers State government has
challenged the governorship candidate of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the
state, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, to
provide proof of his allegation that the
administration of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is corrupt. The state commissioner for Information
and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari,
disclosed this in a chat with LEADERSHIP
in Port Harcourt while reacting to the
allegation by Wike. Semenitari said the allegation was a ploy
by the former minister of state for
Education to draw the attention of the
people of the state away from the fact
that he does not have any programme for
the state. She said, “We believe that Mr. Wike has
no locus to back his allegation. We
challenge him to provide proof. We think
that what is happening is that Mr. Wike
has nothing to tell Rivers people. “He has no programme and he has no
agenda. He wants to draw the attention of
Rivers people away from serious issues. He
wants to take their eyes away from his
numerous perfidies. We really don’t want
to dignify him.” Source: leadership.ng/news/411549/wike-to-amaechi-you-are-the-most-corrupt-governor-in-nigeria |
