Former Governor Amaechi Reacts To N53b Missing Al­legation (See What He Called Governor Wike)

The immediate past governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amae­chi, has debunked the al­legation that N53 billion was missing from the state Re­serve Fund, under his administra­tion.

Amaechi had described the Jus­tice Omereji–led Panel of In­quiry, set up by Governor Ezebu­won Nyesom Wike, to probe his administration, as a last-ditch effort to blackmail him.

Amaechi, who spoke through his media office, in a statement signed by Bekee Anyalewechi, said: “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 expenditures were duly captured and accounted for.”

The statement, howev­er, said that the ongoing mud­slinging against him was aimed at diminishing the former governor’s towering stature, as a statesman and honest Nigerian.

According to the statement also, every expenditure made of the Re­serve Funds was approved by the extant laws, adding that Amae­chi also explained the purposes for which they were used.

The statement read in part: 

“The attention of the media office of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has been drawn to a statement cred­ited to the chairman of Mr. Nyesom Wike’s invidious panel of inquiry. The statement, credited to the panel’s chairman Justice Omereji of a miss­ing N53 billion 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 ac­counted for.”

It continued: 

“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. How­ever, in keeping with former Gover­nor Amaechi’s ethos of transparent and accountable leadership, we will again repeat the facts of the matter. 

“Between 2013 and early 2015, revenue accruing to the Gov­ernment of Rivers State was cut in half due to dwindling federal alloca­tion to states. From about an aver­age of N20 billion, the state began receiving between N9 and N10 bil­lion. By the middle of the first quarter of 2015, the state revenue dipped to as low as N6 billion. Salaries alone stood at over N9 billion besides other expenses. Government had set aside, the reserve funds as a rainy day fund and had need to fall back to it to fund salaries and projects. The details of the expenditure were very clearly captured and this information, which was already in the public domain was shared with the incoming administra­tion and the Omereji panel.”