Amaechi
Why I might step away from government - Minister
Amaechi denied allegations levelled against him by his successor in
Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, that he received over N3.1 trillion during
his tenure.
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amechi has said that he might put his political career on hold after serving his current ministerial term.
Lamenting
what he described as “deliberate attempt” to link public office holders
to corruption, Amaechi said he did not steal money from the Rivers
State treasury throughout his term as governor.
The
Minister, who stated this at a meeting on corruption organised by the
ministry of justice, denied allegations levelled against him by his
successor, Nyesom Wike, that he received over N3.1 trillion during his tenure.
“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,” he said.
“The
governor of Rivers state said I squandered N3 trillion. I did not
receive up to N1.8 trillion 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
said he prioritised transparency when it came to public funds during
his administration, adding that he ensured the people of Rivers were
periodically briefed on how funds were being spent.
He said under him as governor, the state became the first to implement the bureau of public procurement (BPP) act.
He added: “If
you had followed the Rivers state government when I was governor, we
were the first state to introduce the public procurement law in the
country. The state cabinet used to call the director-general of public
procurement in the state as an alternative governor, that they wanted an
amendment to that law,” he said.
“The
reason they wanted amendment is that he (DG) refused to increase the
threshold to one hundred million naira, per ministry, instead he reduced
it to 10 million naira.
“I had a battle
with him (DG BPE) and the world bank who insisted that we should not go
for an amendment but should persuade him to increase the threshold. I
remember the cabinet tried to go to court against him and I remember
that he was also trying to go to court against commissioners.
“In
fact, the procurement DG wrote a memo that I felt was very
incriminating requesting that since the law requires the governor to
take any commissioner who doesn’t comply with the public procurement law
to court, I should please take the commissioner of education to court
for not complying… Everybody in the cabinet felt that he was an
alternative governor, they felt that he was slowing the process.”
ALSO READ: ‘We must stop Nyesom Wike,’ Amaechi says
Amaechi and Wike had on Tuesday, July 26 entered into a peace deal brokered by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Director-General of the Department of State Service, Alhaji Musa Daura, to allow a violence-free rerun legislative election in Rivers.
Comments