RIVERS State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, on
Wednesday, dismissed the claims that his
administration was attacking the immediate past
governor of the state, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, in
order to deprive him (Amaechi) of a ministerial
appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Wike explained that rather than worry about the
possible appointment of Amaechi into President
Buhari’s cabinet, he was interested in how the
state’s funds were managed under the former
governor.
He pointed out that a situation where nothing
was left in the state’s treasury on his assumption
of office as governor was annoying, worrisome
and unacceptable.
Wike, who spoke through his Special Adviser on
Media and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Taria, told
newsmen in Port Harcourt that it was illogical for
anybody to claim that his complaint about
corruption in the immediate past administration
had any link with Amaechi likelihood of getting a
federal appointment.
“So, what is he (Ameachi) going to do to him
(Wike) as a minister or Federal Government
appointee? Wike has not told anybody that he
does not want President Buhari to appoint
Amaechi as a minister. He has never said it;
these are just insinuations and innuendos.
“If Mr. President, known for his mantra of zero
tolerance for corruption; is saying that he is not
going to appoint anybody with a stained image
as a member of his cabinet and Rivers people
are saying that Rotimi Amaechi is not qualified
for an appointment, there is no problem with
that.
“But the truth is that paint Amaechi black, if he
(Buhari) does not want to appoint him
(Amaechi), he will not. Paint Amaechi white, if
the President is not interested in him, he will not
appoint him.
“The talk about whether Amaechi should be
appointed into Buhari’s cabinet is just the feeling
from Rivers’ people and not the governor
himself. He has never discussed the issue of
whether Amaechi should be appointed by Mr.
President or not.
“The governor is more interested in how the
funds of Rivers State were spent; whether they
were judiciously spent or they were just frittered
away. That is the interest because it is annoying
that when we took over, we met an empty
treasury,” Wike said.
He expressed worry that those responsible for
emptying the state’s treasury were the same
people accusing him of taking N30bn loan within
a month.
He said, “They forgot that you are supposed to
pay salaries; you are supposed to open the
judiciary. The governor gave the judiciary N300m
for takeoff and he also had to pay some of the
students abroad who were owed allowances.
Civil servants, pensioners and footballers, who
were owed salaries, were paid.”

www.punchng.com/news/i-dont-care-if-amaechi-emerges-minister-wike/

Same old news....empty coffers.....yawns....bored......