By Adesina Soyooye
For the immediate past Minister for Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, these are not good days.
Fresh from losing the Presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Amaechi is facing a battle to save his name, integrity and reputation in his home State, Rivers State. He has been accused of defrauding the Rivers State Government and, is facing criminal allegations.
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, Amaechi’s successor, has ordered for his prosecution. Amaechi is to answer questions, in Court, on how a whopping sum of 50million US Dollars belonging to the Rivers State Government, was deposited into the account of a private company, Sahara Energy, instead of a Government account.
Sahara Energy is owned by Tonye Cole, the Rivers State APC Governorship candidate. Wike alleges that Cole is Amaechi’s business partner. So, to be prosecuted along with Amaechi are Cole and Sahara Energy.
Wike had, on becoming the Governor of Rivers State, set up a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to investigate what happened to the proceeds from some assets of Rivers State sold under the Amaechi Government. The assets include Power Turbines and the Olympia Hotel.
Wike alleged that the proceeds from the sold assets were not lodged in any Government account as was confirmed by the Panel. Instead, he disclosed, the monetary proceeds were lodged into the accounts of Sahara Energy.
Wike said his Government invited Cole a number of times to come and explain, just in case he had a contract with the Government, because the Government saw none. But he said Cole shunned the invitations.
Instead, Amaechi went to Court to stop the implementation of the findings of the Panel.
A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that Amaechi cannot wish away the findings of the Panel. That ruling cleared the way for the Rivers State Government to prosecute Amaechi and Co.
In the aftermath of the ruling, Wike said he would consult with Stakeholders whether to prosecute Amaechi or not. Apparently he got a positive answer. Prosecute.
On Friday, June 10 while swearing-in three new Commissioners, who included the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Zaccheaus Adangor, Wike orderd him to go ahead with the prosecution of Amaechi, Cole and Sahara Energy.
Wike: “Attorney General, you’re at a critical period where people want to know what the State is going to do with the Judiciary Panel of Inquiry after the Supreme Court judgement on it.
“Luckily, you came at the right time when we have preferred criminal charges against the former governor (Amaechi), Sahara Energy, Tonye Cole and the rest of them.
“So, you are coming at the right time to take over the matter and to make sure it is prosecuted diligently. I don’t want to hear excuses. Let the people see what happened to our money.
“The world will see how $50 million from our account was moved to a company without nothing to show whether there was a business.”
Said a high profile Rivers indigenes: “It is the law of karma. What goes round comes round. That was how Amaechi put his mentor, a former Governor of Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili, in the dock.”
Amaechi, aside from being a two-time Governor of Rivers State was, before then, a two-time Speaker of the House of Assembly during the Odili administration.
