The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Governor Nyesom Wike to leave alone his predecessor and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as well as the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside.
In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, the party described as reckless, unfortunate, ill-informed and frivolous, Wike’s allegation that Amaechi and Peterside, the party’s governorship candidate in last year’s election, sponsored Tuesday night’s publication by Sahara Reporters.
The publication was titled: Justice Mary Odili (of the Supreme Court/wife of ex-Rivers Governor, Dr. Peter Odili) wept and begged Supreme Court judges to accept N5 billion bribe on behalf of Gov. Wike, report says.
In an online statement on Wednesday by his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, the govrnor insisted that he did not bribe Supreme Court justices with N5 billion for his victory at the apex court.
Wike also claimed that Amaechi was indicted by his “properly-constituted” Judicial Commission of Enquiry for allegedly enriching himself by embezzling the state’s funds.
But Rivers State APC said it was compelled to go against its avowed principle that it would not respond to “arrant nonsensical” publications and statements by the “accidental” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in Rivers State under Wike.
The party said it took exception, this time, to address what it called the ludicrous issues raised in PDP’s “moment of disorientation, confusion and attempt to desperately drag down the reputation of notable leaders of the APC in Rivers State”.
It added: “APC leaders in Rivers State, including Amaechi and Dr. Peterside, have no direct, indirect or any other form of links with Sahara Reporters as an organisation or with any of its personnel. Records abound to prove that Amaechi and Peterside have, at one time or another, come under intense scrutiny in the reports of Sahara Reporters.
“It is appropriate and well-timed that the statement by Wike has something to say about whether or not he bribed justices of the Supreme Court over the 2015 governorship matter. From what is emerging today across the nation, the APC will like Rivers residents and other Nigerians to make their conclusions.
“It is a statement of fact that the Justice George Omereji’s panel, which was set up by Wike to target, foist and pin corruption charges on …Amaechi, failed abysmally, because it could not find anything to pin on the former governor. To this day, despite all the challenges by Amaechi for the Rivers State Government to take him to court, it has been impossible, because there are absolutely no grounds to do so, and the Rivers State government knows it.”
Rivers APC also said Wike and his party never released any statement without the “hallucinatory mantra” of N3 trillion received by the Amaechi administration, which it maintained was contrived to fool ordinary Rivers residents and other Nigerians.
It said: “Indeed, it is sad and primitively disingenuous of Rivers governor, his co-travellers and cohorts to huff and puff over an imaginary N3 trillion that got to Rivers State in Amaechi’s eight years, but often dishonestly display selective amnesia when they pretend to forget the many landmark projects and programmes of the Amaechi administration.
“For anyone who cares to know, Amaechi has always stated his avowed stand, on principle, not to make a single comment on his relationship with his erstwhile political mentor, Dr. Peter Odili, and his family, as no amount of blackmail will make him deviate from that resolve.
“It is the unshakable belief of Amaechi that his relationship with Dr. Odili and his family is divine and not open for speculations and conclusions by mortals. It remains personal and private to this day.”