Wike’s ‘one-point agenda’ is to attack me, says Amaechi

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation and culture, says the only agenda of the administration of Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, is to make phantom allegations against him.

Amaechi was governor of Rivers state for eight years and director-general of the presidential campaign of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the buildup of the 2015 general election.

On Sunday, Wike accused Amaechi of diverting $150,000,000 belonging to the state, to the campaign of the APC.

But reacting to the claim, the minister said his successor does not have a “single shred of evidence” against him.

“Sadly, on Sunday, February 7, 2016, Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers state in furtherance of his administration’s one-point agenda, yet again, continued his grossly irresponsible, repugnant and contemptuous, albeit, feckless mission of denigrating and disparaging the person and office of the immediate past governor of the state, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is now the minister of transportation,” read a statement issued on Amaechi by David Iyiofor, his spokesman.

“The ‘story-story’ this time is about another phantom $150,000,000(One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars) that Amaechi purportedly stole from Rivers state government coffers and siphoned to his party, the All Progressives Congress(APC) within eighteen days, from December 1 to 18 of 2014.

“Sadly again, Wike picked a church, a sacred temple of God to tell his new imaginary tale, another bogus, fallacious concoction.

“This new scurrilous fabrication by Governor Wike is in sync with the one-point agenda of the Wike administration, which is to throw as much mud as possible at former governor Amaechi, hoping that some may at least stick.

“All sorts of spurious stories about alleged corruption and stealing of state funds against the Amaechi administration have been bandied in the media with no attempt to substantiate or prove these distorted false claims that completely makes nonsense of common sense.

“Even, when Amaechi challenged the Wike administration and its agents to use any constitutionally available legal process or procedure to prove their jaundice, deceitful allegations against him and his administration, they have rather elected to do their own corruption probe, trial and conviction in the media; and now, even inside our solemn places of worship (churches). How callous! Why would a government be so determined to desecrate and destroy every institution, all in the name of playing politics?

“It continues to baffle us, like most right-thinking Nigerians that Governor Wike will stand in a church- a solemn place of worship- and carelessly, brusquely tell such a profound lie. He condescendingly descended to falsely and indecorously shout corruption against Amaechi, without providing a single shred of evidence to back his claims. How pathetic!”

Amaechi challenged Wike to substantiate the claim that he spent $150 million on APC, saying the attack on him was an attempt to distract the people.

He said the people were tired of Wike, whom he accused of destroying some of the institutions he put in place.

“Pray, Governor Wike, who collected the $150million on behalf of APC? From which state government account(s) was the $150million taken from? How was the $150million taken and given to APC? Was it by wired transfer from Rivers State government account(s) to APC account(s)?  So many questions, if Wike had attempted to answer, would have made nonsense of his supercilious allegations,” the statement read.

“Rivers people and Nigerians are indeed sick and tired of this old worn-out trick of Governor Wike to hoodwink and distract Rivers people from the real issues.

“Making a new spurious allegation of corruption against Amaechi every day, will not make Rivers people forget that most of the beautiful, working institutions built by the Amaechi administration are now being allowed to rot away in spite of the billions of naira that had accrued to the state and the billions of naira borrowed by Wike.

“Rivers people want to know why weeds and grasses have taken over the beautiful schools built by Amaechi? Why the standard working health facilities Amaechi built and left behind are now looking desolate and abandoned? Rivers people are concerned and worried that crime and criminals are back and have taken over. No quantum of mudslinging and attempt to disparage the inspiring legacies of the Amaechi years in Rivers State would distract Rivers people from these issues.”