PORT HARCOURT, Federal Republic of Nigeria. In October 26, 2007 when he returned from self-imposed exile to Ghana to undertake a double barrel oath of allegiance and of the office as the next governor of Rivers state sequel to the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court, Rotimi Amaechi was the jewel of every Nigerian.
As he took over the mantle of governance, the state went berserk in jubilation. The jubilation was not because the people loved Sir Celestine Omehia less as a governor, but they cherished the miraculous emergence of Amaechi courtesy of the Apex Court ruling much more.
Within the first four years of his government, Amaechi was indeed, able to prove to all his critics that he was well prepared to rule the state by embarking on several developmental projects across the state. The former governor vowed to deal with the teething problem of erratic power supply by improving on the already available gas turbines in the state. He did. But his administration consistently shifted the goal post for 24-hour “uninterrupted” electricity three times without any apology.
Amaechi was set out to build about 700 model primary and secondary schools in the state at the cost of N120million for one. They were well equipped with ICT, modern laboratories and sports facilities. Extremely alluring from the exterior, though, some of these schools in the remote areas of the state were judiciously occupied not by humans, but grasses, weeds and dangerous animals like snakes only few years after they were built.
A typical case study here is the Ambassador Nne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School which had 110 Nigerians and 17 Indians staff and supervised by Educomp firm which even showed a sign of decay before the government that built it left office.
The new model primary and secondary schools and health centers built by Amaechi’s administration were described as world class facilities by former British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw and former Prime Minister of Ireland, John Bruton.
Both Straw and Bruton were in the state last year to attend the International Conference on Democracy and Good Governance organized by the state government. According to Mr. Straw, “I am not an expert, but it seems to me that the model schools built by Governor Amaechi are equivalent to the model schools in the United Kingdom”.
That was a big accolade. Because such praise came from a white-skinned foreigner, it instantly soared Amaechi’s political profile which is what he bargained for, anyway.
Very sadly though, the best of Amaechi’s times ended in his first four years. And because he vehemently devoted the remaining four years fighting to upstage the government at the center, the glory of the people dimmed at the home front and the massive support finally evaporated.
However, another good thing that Amaechi did when he took over power in the state was to set up accountability forum. He used the gathering to inform the Rivers people of the transactions, funds and expenditures of government.
In 2009, the then governor made it clear at an event organized by the Rivers state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ that “if you are not stealing money, then you should not be afraid to publish the records”.
The governor challenged Rivers people to call for records of expenditure in Government House and compare it to what was the situation before he came into office. He said that it would be an example that his administration had been prudent in the management of the state’s resources.
“If I was not sure of the income and expenditure records, I would not come to the public because people are usually afraid to do so but the mere fact that I stand before you to give account means that I am sure of my facts”, he told the crowd.
This luxury of having such privilege to know the government’s accounts in the state did not last the taste of time. Transactions after that time were shrouded in obvious secrecy. Nobody cared to tell who collects what and how that was spent for more than four years of the past administration.
Rivers people had to wait patiently until Friday, June 19, 2015 when the new governor, Barrister Nyesom Wike set up a judicial commission of inquiry to ascertain and investigate whether the past government was in any way frugal with the state’s resources as it claimed or they were frittered away.
Wike expressed optimism while setting up the commission that “President Muhammadu Buhari will support my administration in the quest to tackle the massive corruption that characterized the Amaechi administration. We are aware that the immediate past administration and her officials will resort to blackmail and propaganda for the purpose of diverting attention from their corrupt practices but we shall remain focused on the task of getting back Rivers State resources and assets.”
In spelling out what looked like a guideline to the Commission, Wike said it should investigate the sale of the Omoku 150MW gas power plant, the Afam 360MW gas turbine, the Trans-Amadi 136MW gas turbine and the Eleme 75MW gas turbine. He also said the commission of inquiry should investigate the mono-rail project and the sale of the Olympia Hotel by the Amaechi administration.
Other areas for the commission of inquiry to investigate include the non-execution of the contract for the construction of the Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte Specialist Hospital after the payment of the sum of $39.2m to the supposed contractor.
He added that it will also look at the disbursement or use by the Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture of the sum of N2bn agricultural credit guarantee scheme funds and the withdrawal and expenditure of the accrued N96bn from the Rivers State Reserve Fund.
The former governor was indicted on the issue of the Agriculture loan given by the central bank of Nigeria, CBN. Testimonies by senior government officers of the ministry showed that Amaechi converted the N4billion loan to grant which he gave to political associates other than the corporative societies to enhance food production in the state.
On the gas turbines, Governor Wike charged the commission to ascertain the circumstances of the sales by the Amaechi administration, identify the purchaser(s) of the gas turbines, the total cost for which they were sold and the whereabouts of the proceeds of their sale. He said the commission should also ascertain whether the transactions were conducted in line with extant laws of the state and also determine if the state still had any equity left in the gas turbines.
Governor Wike gave the judicial commission of inquiry one month to submit its report. Chairman Justice George Omereji had assured the governor that the commission would diligently carry out its duties in line with the terms of reference.
In submitting the final report of the Transition Committee, former deputy governor, Tele Ikuru, had described the Amaechi’s administration as the most corrupt in the state’s history. He added that the former governor expended N812m to furnish his personal residence at the expense of the state, while N4.96bn was spent on the Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte Hospital, with no structure on the ground.
Shocking revelations
When the commission began its inaugural sitting on Monday, August 24, 2015, it was an opportunity for Rivers people to come to terms with how their resources were managed by the past administration. First, some senior officers of the Ministry of Agriculture damned any consequence to testify that the N4billion CBN Agriculture loan was converted to a non-repayable grant and shared among politicians for political purpose.
They disclosed at the commission that politicians who benefitted from the loan included former local government chairmen such as Minaeichinbo Tende, Uche Nwaeke, Kadilo Kadiri, Oji Ngofa, Nnamdi Wuche, Mene Lenyie Derek and Ojukaye Flag Amachree.
Others included Ikegbidi Cassidy Okpara, Austin Ahiamadu, Ibigoni Daddy Pokima Charles Anyanwu and Nlemaa Agape.
Chairman of the Agriculture Credit Scheme and a director of planning at the State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Chijioke Grant Amadi in his testimony had blamed the former Agriculture Commissioner, Emmah Chindah for the illegalities that characterized the management of the N4billion agriculture fund.
Also, Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. I. O. Okoye said she was excluded from the management of the fund, even though she was the Chief Accounting Officer of the Ministry.
On the controversial monorail project, it was discovered that Amaechi, allegedly sacked members of his cabinet to award the Monorail contract to TSI Property and Investment Holding Limited, at the sum of N50 billion.
Head of Safety and Aviation Department, Ministry of Transport, Saya Antioch, made the revelation, in his testimony before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry investigating the sale of the State Valued Assets and Other Related Matters.
Antioch told the Commission during investigation on the project, that members of Amaechi’s cabinet wanted the project to be awarded to Urbanod, an American-based firm, but the governor insisted that TSI would execute the job.
According to him, Urbanod offered to do the 27.1 kilometres total tracks at 15 percent less than what TSI Limited offered.
Earlier, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Mrs. Stella Wigwe, told the Commission that the past government was not prudent in the money expended on the project.
Mrs. Wigwe disclosed that N33.9 billion was spent on Phase 1 A, out of the N50 billion meant for the entire Phase 1.
She stated that the total cost estimated for the Monorail project was at the tune of 250 million Euros, adding that the original concept of the project was to start at the end of Aggrey road to Air Force Gulf Club.
Speaking further, the Permanent Secretary maintained that the Ministry of Transport was not consulted to make input in the contract.
According to her, the project, which was supposed to be a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between last administration and TSI Limited, collapsed, without any evidence of return of the N11 billion, already paid to the later.
More damning was the revelation by the Managing Director of ARCUS GIBBS Nigeria Limited, technical partners to the Rivers State government on the Monorail Project, Wiero Viguezang who said that he wrote a memo to the commissioner for transport, George Tolofari to arrange the unveiling the yet-to-be completed monorail project, essentially for media coverage, since the project was “technically uncompleted”.
“We actually wrote to the ministry of transport in January, to arrange for the governor to unveil the monorail project in April for the attention and coverage of the media based on the expectation of the people of the state. It was to deceive the people into believing that the monorail project was at last ready”.
ARCUS GIBBS Nigeria Limited, had collected a total of N22.9bn from the Rivers State government through the ministry of transport, since it services were enlisted by the Rivers State government in March1, 2010 and turned round to inform government that the project was no longer tenable. The state still owes the company N1.1bn for its services.
Amaechi’s reaction
Speaking for the first time in Port Harcourt since the commission began its sitting and in what looked like a self-defense, Amaechi made some excuses why it will be impossible for him to appear before the commission.
“The panel is illegal”, he said. “There is a law on how to set an administrative panel. Nyesom Wike has not complied with the law. When he complies with the law, I will appear to defend myself. He has not complied with the law. That is one.
“Secondly, the rule of natural justice and fair hearing is not adhered to. You sit down and you tell a man, ‘go and find him guilty openly. He is guilty; go and investigate him’. Who is that man to investigate me when you had already told him what to do?
“In accordance with the rule of natural justice and fairness, you didn’t call a company or somebody who is independent and say go and investigate Amaechi’s government. What you say to him is to go and find him guilty and you say I should appear. No, I will go to court”.
Many people are wondering if Amaechi can actually get any justice from any court in Nigeria. This has to do with the fact that in Rivers state, he has consistently been accused of “deliberately” shutting down the judiciary for close to one year. Lawyers were subjected to hardship. Suspects awaiting trial in different cells and prisons were kept longer than lawful in detention.
More so, if a competent court of law could rule that the Commission has every legitimacy to probe an administration and the activities of the past government, not an individual, though, can anyone for that matter dispute otherwise!
“It is important to note that as public officers, every money in our custody is held for trust and must be accounted for. That is why it will not be out of place for the former governor (Amaechi) to appear before the commission and testify for his eight years as governor of Rivers state.
“After all, in his first tenure, he set up the truth and reconciliation committee and his former boss and governor, Dr. Peter Odili appeared before the same commission to testify. So, I don’t see anything bad in it”.
Credit: Daily Independent (Nigeria)
