Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi
Rivers State Government on Friday ordered the immediate past governor of the state, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, former military administrator of the state, Anthony Ukpo (retd.) and others who had held public offices in the past to return N97bn.
This is just as the State Governor,
Chief Nyesom Wike, had announced the suspension of some permanent
secretaries said to have been indicted by the report of the Justice
George Omereji commission of inquiry.
The state government, who briefed
newsmen shortly after the State Executive Council meeting at the
Government House in Port Harcourt, declared that the sum was
misappropriated in the sale of Rivers State valued assets.
The
State Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Emma Okah, who spoke with newsmen
after a White Paper was issued based on the report of the commission of
inquiry, said Amaechi and others found to have been involved in the
misappropriation of state funds must return them or face prosecution.
The state governor had set up a judicial
commission of inquiry into the sale of valued assets belonging to
Rivers by the immediate past administration.
Okah specifically said that the state
government had ordered its Attorney General and Commissioner for
Justice, Mr. Chinwe Aguma, SAN, to start the process of charging Amaechi
and two others to court over the sale of the state gas turbine without
due process.
Though no ultimatum was given to the
former governor and others indicted by the commission of inquiry to
return the said funds, Okah added that an ex-commissioner for Finance,
Dr. Chamberlain Peterside and Augustine Nwokocha, who was the immediate
past commissioner for Power, would also be prosecuted.
He explained that the state attorney
general was expected to begin the process of recovering funds accruing
from the sale of four gas turbines from Amaechi and the former
commissioner for Power.
According to him, “The Omereji
commission had several terms of references and we will be taking them
one after the other. The first term of reference is to ascertain the
sale of the Omoku 150 megawatts gas turbine; Afam 360 megawatts gas
turbine; Trans-Amadi 136 megawatts gas turbine and the Eleme 75
megawatts gas turbine by the administration of former Governor Rotimi
Amaechi.
“The commission finds as a fact that the
sale of 70 per cent equity from the First Independent Power Limited in
Omoku gas turbine, Trans-Amadi gas turbine, Afam Phase I gas turbine and
Eleme gas turbine, have been very difficult to justify.
“They have therefore recommended the
review of the sale of the power assets and the Government of Rivers
State has accepted that recommendation on the refunds of proceeds by
Chibuike Amaechi, Chamberlain Peterside, and Augustine Nwokocha. In
furtherance of these findings that the sale of the four gas turbines was
unjustifiable and against the interest of the government and people of
Rivers State.
“The commission recommends that the
former governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, along
with his former commissioners for Finance and Power, Dr. Chamberlain
Peterside and Augustine Nwokocha, respectively, should be held to
account for their roles in the sales of the power generation assets of
First Independent Power Limited and the disbursement of the proceeds
there from.
“Government accepts this recommendation
and directs the office of the honourable Attorney-General and
Commissioner for Justice, to promptly set in motion the appropriate
machinery for the recovery of the proceeds of the sale of the gas
turbines from the former governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, and every
other person implicated in the commission’s report.”
Again, Okah disclosed that the state
attorney general and commissioner for Justice had been instructed to
recover the sum of N3bn from the former Commissioner for Agriculture,
Mr. Emma Chinda, adding that the said amount meant for agricultural
grant to farmers was diverted.
The Housing commissioner pointed out
that another commissioner under the Amaechi administration, Dr. Sampson
Parker, who was in the Health Ministry should be made to return some
amount of money running into billions of naira meant for the
construction of the Justice Karibi-Whyte Hospital.
He said the former commissioner for
Transport, Mr. George Tolofari, and former military Governor of old
Rivers State, Anthony Ukpo, were expected to join Amaechi in returning
N33bn spent on the state monorail project without passing through due
process.
On the suspension of some permanent
secretaries, Okah explained that the suspension would continue until
when they would be able to defend themselves on the allegations against
them.
Reacting through a statement, Rotimi
Amaechi’s Media Team described the claims by the commission as a
mischief and a desperate tactic to reduce the former governor’s towering
stature.
Defending the governor on the alleged
missing N53bn from the State Reserve Funds, the team said the
withdrawals were duly approved by the State House of Assembly.
“The statement credited to the panel’s
chairman Justice Omeriji of a “missing” N53bn is unfortunate and leaves
much to be desired. The mischief is all the more evident as the funds
referred to are funds from the Rivers State reserve fund which was duly
approved by the Rivers State House of Assembly and whose expenditure
were duly captured and appropriated.
“Ordinarily we might not have responded
to the mischief of Mr. Wike knowing that having failed with his various
desperate tactics to stop the nomination of the Rt. Hon. Chibuike
Amaechi as a minister, he has embarked on this last ditch effort which
is his trump card in the hope that it will diminish the former
governor’s towering stature as a statesman and honest Nigerian.
“Between 2013 and early 2015, the
revenue accruing to the Government of Rivers State was cut in half due
to dwindling federal allocation to states. From about an average of
N20bn, the state began receiving between N9 and N10bn. By the middle of
the first quarter of 2015, the state revenue dipped to as low as N6bn.
Salaries alone stood at over N9bn besides other expenses.
“Government had set aside the reserve
funds for the rainy day and had need to fall back to it to fund salaries
and projects,,” the statement read
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