I did not receive N3trn as Governor; so I could not have squandered it- Amaechi
Fri Jul 29, 2016 01:28:pm Politics
2.3K By sosa hills
Speaking at a stakeholder's meeting on the London Summit on Anti-Corruption and the Open Government Partnership on Thursday, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, denied ever receiving over N3trn allocation as Governor of Rivers State.
Amaechi therefore refuted allegations made by his successor, Nyesom Wike, that he squandered the stated amount of money.
At the event which was co-organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, Amaechi stated that Wike was only fabricating lies against him, and that Rivers indigenes were aware of how much he received during his tenure as Governor.
He said, "Within that period we insisted on engaging the indigenous communities on how much we received and how we spent the money.
"That is why I feel that after this ministerial appointment, I should do everything possible to stay away from Government because in spite of all the forms of transparency I introduced in Government, one man could begin to tell lies to Nigerians and Nigerians believe him.
"The Governor of Rivers State said I squandered N3tn. I did not receive up to N1.8tn as Governor both from IGR and funds from federal allocation. So, how could I have squandered money I did not even receive in the first place? You can see the politics of lies and lies."
Amaechi insisted that he was not corrupt and challenged anybody to bring up evidence to the contrary.
He said, "As Minister of Transportation, I run an open and transparent system. I believe in name and shame.
"What name and shame does is, if you name and shame those of them who don't have conscience they won't come to public functions.
"I do have conscience. In fact, it was the word corruption that brought me to this occasion because I wanted to see who will get up and say to me, this is evidence that you are corrupt.'
"We went to court against the Rivers State Government on their allegation of corruption against me. The Court of Appeal said, produce that document that found this man (Amaechi) guilty of those crimes and up till today he (Wike) has not produced it."
Amaechi therefore refuted allegations made by his successor, Nyesom Wike, that he squandered the stated amount of money.
At the event which was co-organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, Amaechi stated that Wike was only fabricating lies against him, and that Rivers indigenes were aware of how much he received during his tenure as Governor.
He said, "Within that period we insisted on engaging the indigenous communities on how much we received and how we spent the money.
"That is why I feel that after this ministerial appointment, I should do everything possible to stay away from Government because in spite of all the forms of transparency I introduced in Government, one man could begin to tell lies to Nigerians and Nigerians believe him.
"The Governor of Rivers State said I squandered N3tn. I did not receive up to N1.8tn as Governor both from IGR and funds from federal allocation. So, how could I have squandered money I did not even receive in the first place? You can see the politics of lies and lies."
Amaechi insisted that he was not corrupt and challenged anybody to bring up evidence to the contrary.
He said, "As Minister of Transportation, I run an open and transparent system. I believe in name and shame.
"What name and shame does is, if you name and shame those of them who don't have conscience they won't come to public functions.
"I do have conscience. In fact, it was the word corruption that brought me to this occasion because I wanted to see who will get up and say to me, this is evidence that you are corrupt.'
"We went to court against the Rivers State Government on their allegation of corruption against me. The Court of Appeal said, produce that document that found this man (Amaechi) guilty of those crimes and up till today he (Wike) has not produced it."
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