PORT HARCOURT— RIVERS State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike has again accused his predecessor, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Amaechi of allegedly blackmailing the Supreme Court Justices because his appeal against the judgment of the Appeal Court on the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry was before the apex court.
Wike spoke yesterday at the 106 quarterly meeting of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, noted that the state government has enough evidence to nail Amaechi over the allegations against him.
Wike and Amaechi
The governor alleged that the former governor had openly admitted in public to releasing funds for construction of the Justice Karibi Whyte Hospital, which he said was non existent, adding that he also admitted to the sale of some valuable assets of the state.
The governor, who dismissed allegations of forged documents against him said that the records of the transactions, bank details were there for all to see.
Meantime, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has insisted that the sale of the power assets in the state by Amaechi was in the interest of the state at the time it was done, adding that governments all over the world sell assets based on economic demands.
Spokesman of the party in the state, Mr Chris Finebone said it did not make sense to operate the power assets and upload electricity to the national grid at great cost with no refund from the Federal Government.
“We ask, has Wike has not heard of governments selling off assets before now? In the case of Rivers State, it didn’t make sense to build, operate, maintain power stations then upload electricity to the national grid at great cost to the Rivers taxpayer without refund from the FG at the time when legal issues prevented the taxpayer from enjoying same electricity hence the sale of the power stations and the funds paid into the treasury as all funds must be appropriated. Let Wike provide evidence that due process was not adhered to as stated here.”
Wike continuing, said: “All the documents that proved Amaechi’s acts are authentic. We never forged documents. The former governor himself admitted that he paid out $39 million to Clinotech, without a single block laid anywhere. Is that a document he claims was forged? Where is the Hospital?
“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 The dates and amounts withdrawn are clearly written. 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.”
The governor also warned owners of hotel not to allow their property to be used for election manipulation, saying that the government will not hesitate to withdraw the certificate of occupancy of such places.
He said: “Any hotel that is used to rig elections, that hotel’s certificate of occupancy will be withdrawn. I will not allowed that anymore.”
Meantime, the All Progressive congress, APC has insisted that the sale of the power assets in the state by Amaechi was in the interest of the state at the time it was done , adding that governments all over sell assets based on economic demands.
Spokesman of the party in the state, Mr Chris Finebone said it did not make sense to operate the power assets and upload electricity to the national grid at great cost with no refund from the federal government.
“. We ask: Is that Gov. Wike has not heard of governments selling off assets before now? . In the case of Rivers State, it didn’t make sense to build, operate, maintain power stations then upload electricity to the national grid at great cost to the the Rivers taxpayer without refund from the FG at the time when legal issues prevented the taxpayer from enjoying same electricity hence the sale of the power stations and the funds paid into the treasury as all funds must be appropriated.
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