Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has lambasted Rivers State governor, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike for failing to fulfill his threat of going to Court to claimed the $43 million recovered at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Wike has alleged that the cash, which was recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) belongs to Rivers State, kept at the Ikoyi Apartments by Amaechi, who is the immediate past governor of the state and threatened to go to court should the federal government fail to return the money to the state within seven days.
Amaechi, in a statement issued last night in Port Harcourt by his media office, described the Wike-led administration in Rivers State as in Rivers State as a government of lies, deceit, fraud and blood.
The former governor also threw his weight behind the call by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka that in the fight against corruption, detractors, who deliberately create distraction should be criminalised and prosecuted.
The statement reads in part, “Nigerians would recall that on the night of Friday, April 14, during his hurriedly arranged shambolic press briefing, Wike had threatened the President Buhari administration with fire and brimstone, vowing the mother-of-all legal action against the federal government if the over $43million was not given to him within seven days.
“The seven-day ultimatum has long expired, yet no action, whether legal or otherwise by Wike to prove his malicious allegations and claim to the money. Again, on Friday, May 6, another wonderful opportunity was open for Wike to prove his frivolous allegations against Amaechi and claim the money, before Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
“The Judge had on April 13, directed that anyone who owns the money should come forward to claim it. Neither Wike nor his Lawyers were any where near the court. Again, another no show. Wike’s failure to prove his allegations against Amaechi in a court of law or even in the court of public opinion clearly vindicates our position and completely exonerates Amaechi of any link or connection to the Ikoyi money and apartment.
“Wike’s failure to prove this his latest malicious outburst against Amaechi also clearly shows that all previous fake stories of allegations upon allegations of graft against Amaechi by Wike are all lies, like this Ikoyi silly lie from a sick and warped mind. Since he became governor, Wike sleeps and wakes up everyday, with a sole, one-point agenda to attack and denigrate Rotimi Amaechi, his erstwhile benefactor, no matter how ridiculous and silly he sounds.
“Everyday in Rivers State, there is one frivolous, false story of what Amaechi did or didn’t do. Same pattern, the same blatant lies with no proof, same old concocted stories of corruption allegations against Amaechi told with different flavours, just like this his latest Ikoyi money blatant lie. Sadly, what Wike is running in Rivers State today is not a government, by any stretch, but a contraption of lies, deceit, fraud and blood. He has bastardized and destroyed Rivers State.
“To stem this dangerous trend, this is why we are in full support of Prof. Wole Soyinka’s call that in the anti-corruption war, detractors who deliberately create distraction should be criminalized and prosecuted. Detractors of the fight against corruption like Nyesom Wike, and his lackeys and minions like Femi Fani-Kayode, Lere Olayinka, one Senator George Sekibo who like a clown, foolishly blew a whistle on the floor of the senate to push Wike’s false narrative of the ownership of the Ikoyi money etc, should not be allowed to go scot free with their politically motivated lies to distract the fight against corruption.
“Finally, we insist that Wike must go to court, like he vowed (as he goes, he can also take his minions and lackeys with him), to prove his frivolous claims that the over $43million Ikoyi money and luxury apartment belongs to Amaechi and were stolen from Rivers State by Amaechi; or be ready to face the wrath of the law (at the appropriate time; constitutional immunity for governors is not for life), the wrath of the people and ultimately the wrath of God, which no constitutional immunity can protect him from.”
