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Tag: Amaechi

  • Senate suspends probe of Amaechi, Mohammed

    Senate suspends probe of Amaechi, Mohammed

    SENATORS yesterday called off the consideration of the petitions against the nomination of former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Mrs Amina Ibrahim Mohammed as ministers.

    The Port Harcourt-based The Integrity Group petitioned the Senate alleging financial impropriety against Amaechi and requesting that he should not be confirmed as minister.

    The petition, sent to the Senate through Senator George Thompson Sekibo and two other senators, claimed that Amaechi mismanaged N70 billion Rivers’ State funds. The former governor debunked the claim as a lie.

    The Senate Committee, after a brief meeting with Amaechi at the National Assembly, said the subject matter of the petition, which is related to the white paper on a report of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry is already a subject of court case.

    Amaechi who appeared before the committee with former Commissioner for Information Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, and two members of the House of Representatives, told the panelists that the matter upon which the committee invited him was pending before a court.

    The committee’s chairman, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, had wanted to know from Amaechi if the matter was awaiting a court pronouncement.

    Anyanwu, after hearing from Amaechi. noted that in line with Section 7 of the Senate Standing Rules, it would amount to sub-judice to continue to consider the petition.

    Mrs Mohammed, who until her nomination, was a Special Adviser to United Nation’s Secretary General Ban Ki Moon,  asked the committee to disregard the petition against her nomination because she is not from Kaduna State as claimed by the petitioners.

    The nominee said she is from Gombe State.

    She said: “I was brought up in Kaduna. My father lived there, but I have no connection with Kaduna State. I am an indigene of Gombe State and the assumption is that I would be representing Gombe in the cabinet.”

    The attention of Mr. James Kanyip, a lawyer, who sent the petition to the Senate, was drawn to Mrs. Mohammed’s submission.

    Kanyip said that he would withdraw his petition if it is confirmed that Mrs. Mohammed was not nominated to represent Kaduna State.

    Anyanwu later told reporters that his committee would continue its investigation on other aspects of the petition against Amaechi.

    Anyanwu said: “What we are saying is that we have a petition against Amaechi and there is a letter from his lawyer that they have a pending case in the court.

    “We also received a White Paper indicting him and we also received a Federal High Court judgment that says that Amaechi cannot stop the judicial commission from investigating him.

    “He went to Appeal Court and the matter is pending in Appeal Court. And in our Senate Rule, once a matter is in court, we will not dwell into it.

    “But what we are going to do is to package the documents, look at their nature and be able to do our report and send to the Senate by tomorrow or next. ý”

    He went on: “Nobody has been cleared. It is our report because whatever report that we turn in, it is the entire Senate that will dwell on that report and clear whoever that the report recommends for clearance or otherwise.

    “We have not turned in our report. We only said that the matter we have before us is in court and there are other conflicting issues which we are yet to resolve and that is why we are trying to put down our report together.

    “The fact that the screening commences tomorrow (today) is not withstanding. It doesn’t matter. We have two, three days to do our screening. Anybody that is not screened tomorrow (today) could be screened the other day.

    “If the reports are ready for any of them, the person will be taken tomorrow. And of course, the Senate is going to take them batch by batch. So, it doesn’t mean that everybody will be screened tomorrow  (today).

    On the number of petitions received so far, Anyanwu said: “No, we have not received 10 petitions. We have only received two petitions. The petition doesn’t come to us directly. It must be made at the floor of the chamber and they have not received anything of such.

    “Nothing is cast on iron. We don’t need to be in a hurry to put up a report that may not find its place in the Senate.

    “If we are ready tomorrow, of course, we will submit our report tomorrow. The only thing is that between Tuesday and Thursday, we are supposed to finish with the screening of the ministers, the reports will be ready. “

  • Senate suspends probe of Amaechi, Mohammed

    Senate suspends probe of Amaechi, Mohammed

    The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on Monday called off the consideration of the petitions it received against the nomination of former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and Amina Ibrahim Mohammed as ministers.

    A Port Harcourt based group, The Integrity Group, had forwarded a petition to the Senate, alleging financial impropriety against Amaechi with the aim of preventing him from being confirmed as minister.

    The petitioners, who sent their petition to the Senate through Senator George Thompson Sekibo and two other Senators, claimed that Amaechi mismanaged N70 billion Rivers State funds.

    The Senate committee, after a brief meeting with Amaechi at the National Assembly, said the subject matter of the petition which is related to the white paper on a report of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry is already a subject of court case.

    The former Rivers governor, who appeared before the committee in company with his former Commissioner for Information, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari and two members of the House of Representatives, told the panelists that the matter upon which the committee invited him is pending before a court of competent jurisdiction.

    The Chairman of the committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, had wanted to know from Amaechi if the matter was awaiting court pronouncement.

    Anyanwu after hearing from Amaechi noted that in line with Section 7 of the Senate Standing Rules, it would amount to sub-judice to consider the petition.

    Mohammed on her part asked the committee to disregard the petition against her nomination because she is not from Kaduna State as claimed by the petitioners.

    The nominee said she is from Gombe and not Kaduna State.

    She said, “I was brought up in Kaduna. My father lived there but I have no connection with Kaduna State.  I am an indigene of Gombe State and the assumption is that I would be representing Gombe in the cabinet.”

    The attention of Barrister James Kanyip, who sent the petition to the Senate, was drawn to Mohammed’s submission.

    Kanyip said he would withdraw his petition if it is confirmed that Mohammed was not nominated to represent Kaduna State.

    Anyanwu later told reporters that his committee would continue its investigation on other aspects of the petition against Amaechi.

    Anyanwu said: “What we are saying is that we have a petition against Amaechi and there is a letter from his lawyer that they have a pending case in the court.”

  • Senate under pressure over Ngige, Amaechi, Shittu

    Senate under pressure over Ngige, Amaechi, Shittu

    Ogbeh, Ibeto, Sirika, Alhassan, Udoma may ‘bow and go’

    Ex-Rivers governor writes Senate on enquiry 

    Will the Senate change its parliamentary tradition or ask ex-lawmakers who are ministerial nominees to take a bow?

    That was the question  at the weekend ahead of tomorrow’s screening of the nominees.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki is under pressure to stick to the tradition, it was learnt.

    But some senators from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are pushing for “an open and equal screening”.

    It was gathered that the leadership of the Senate may take a decision before the screening opens.

    Saraki is likely to present the issue before the Executive Session prior to the screening.

    Eight of the 21 nominees are former lawmakers.

    They are: Sen. Udoma Udo-Udoma; Sen. Aisha Alhassan; Sen. Chris Ngige; Sen. Hadi Sirika; Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi (a former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly); Mr. Audu Ogbeh (a former Deputy Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly); Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto (a former member of the House of Representatives); and Adebayo Shittu (a former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly).

    It was learnt that many senators supported “parliamentary tradition” for the automatic clearance of the eight former lawmakers.

    Also yesterday, the Senate re-echoed the statement by its Adhoc Media Committee Chairman Dino Melaye on the need for two senators to endorse a nominee from their state.

    This followed the apprehension that some of the ministerial nominees will not be able to scale the screening hurdle, following their apparent likelihood of not getting the endorsement of two senators from their states.

    On its Twitter handle @NGRSenate yesterday, it said: “The tradition of two senators having to endorse a ministerial nominee is not sacrosanct and can be waived, if a nominee passes other criteria.”

    A principal officer said: “The Senate President is under pressure to break the tie and provide direction for senators who are divided on some nominees, especially the former lawmakers.

    “Saraki’s personal relationship with some of these former lawmakers has made the pressure on the Senate more challenging.

    “But the main issue is whether or not to give parliamentary waiver to ex-lawmakers who have been nominated as ministers.

    “Some senators are insisting on the adoption of the parliamentary tradition to screen and clear the eight ex-lawmakers. Normally by our tradition, the eight nominees are expected to take a bow after explaining their plans for the nation.

    “These senators have warned against the consequences of changing the tradition by the 8th Senate because it could be anybody’s turn tomorrow.

    “They said if the Senate played into the hands of some politicians and governors, it might affect the prospect of some lawmakers in the future.”

    Responding to a question, the officer added: “These senators are saying that we should grill these ex-lawmakers on their vision for the country but they are making a strong case for automatic clearance.

    “Some of them cited the row which the screening and clearance of ex-Minister Musiliu Obanikoro generated and how ex-Senate President David Mark stuck to the parliamentary tradition.”

    Another Senator said: “We have received many petitions against some of these nominees, including some of these eight lawmakers. A few Senators are demanding the waiver of the parliamentary tradition to enable the Senate leave the screening open.

    “These petitions have been referred to the relevant committee of the Senate for consideration.

    “We are looking into these arguments which have put the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, under pressure.”

    Amaechi is said to have written to the Senate to stay action on any issue emanating from the Commission of Inquiry set up by the government of Rivers State.

    He said since a matter was pending in court on the inquiry, it would be subjudice for the Senate to dabble in it.

    A source in the Senate said: “Amaechi’s counsel has written the President of the Senate on the need to avoid consideration of a subjudicial matter.

    “You know the Senate has a procedure of not treating any matter before a court.”

  • APC throws weight behind Amaechi, vows to reclaim Akwa Ibom

    APC throws weight behind Amaechi, vows to reclaim Akwa Ibom

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-South has thrown its weight behind the nomination of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, as minister, saying those opposing his nomination would fail.

    The party also vowed to reclaim what it described as its stolen mandate at the March 28 and April 11 elections held in Akwa Ibom State, alleging that it was robbed of victory at the governorship and national assembly polls in the state.

    The National Vice Chairman in charge of the zone, Prince Hilliard Eta, in a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja, said in spite of what it called the unwarranted opposition of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators from the state and the state governor, Nyesom Wike, the party will stand solidly behind the governor to emerge as minister.

    Describing the actions of Wike and the Rivers PDP as “simply embarking on a wild goose chase,” the statement said: “Amaechi is unjustly being witch-hunted and persecuted by the PDP machine in Rivers State led by Wike, because of his (Amaechi’s) role in resisting the evil machinations plotted against the good people of the state by the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    “Wike and his ilk cannot assume the triple role of the complainant; prosecution and judge in their case against Amaechi, as they have desperately shown in their several protests and attempts to thwart his emergence as a Minister of the Federal Republic.”

    It decried the brazen desperation by the Wike-led PDP apparatus to demonise the former governor, adding, “Wike and his ilk were showing the world that it cannot even hide nor pretend on their dance of lawlessness carried over from their hey-days when the drums of impunity were conspicuously being beaten aloud.”

    The APC noted that the barrage of petitions against Amaechi’s ministerial nomination and the predetermined report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry submitted to Wike at his behest “lend credence to the barefaced machinations to give a dog a bad name so to hang it.”

    The statement added that the APC and the people of the South South are solidly behind Amaechi’s nomination as minister, while urging the leadership of the Senate to discountenance the claims by the Integrity Group, that submitted a petition against Amaechi, which accused the former governor of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during his tenure.

    On the party’s expectations on its petition against elections conducted in Akwa Ibom State in March and April, Eta stated that proceedings at the governorship elections tribunal and that of the National Assembly for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, have clearly revealed that the APC was robbed of victory by the PDP in connivance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

     

  • Sekibo’s petition to the Senate on Amaechi irresponsible, says Peterside

    Sekibo’s petition to the Senate on Amaechi irresponsible, says Peterside

    The All  Progressives  Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Hon. Dakuku Peterside, has described as “disappointing and irresponsible” the action of Rivers Senator,  George Sekibo, for submitting a petition against former River State Governor, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, to the Senate last week.

    Dakuku, who spoke at an interview with our correspondent during the Arm of Hope  15th anniversary dinner organised by the Non Governmental  Organisation (NGO) at the weekend in Abuja, further alleged that the Integrity Group, which filed a petition alleging corruption against Amaechi, as a faceless group that is not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

    He said: “If that is the same petition that Senator George Sekibo presented on the floor of the Senate, I will be disappointed. It simply means he is an irresponsible person and I won’t expect that from him. Perhaps, that is why he was booed by his mates on the floor of the Senate.”

    Also speaking on the ministerial list sent to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari, Dakuku urged Nigerians to desist from playing politics with issues of serious significance, adding that all the nominees are worthy of the appointments.

    He noted: “Take the case of Chief Audu Ogbeh. He is experienced and intellectual.  He is one of the most cerebral Nigerians around. He comes with a lot of experience. This is a man who is a former University lecturer, a former deputy speaker of Benue State House of Assembly, a former Minister and former Chairman of the former ruling party.”

  • Rivers orders Amaechi, ex-MILAD, others to refund N97bn

    Rivers orders Amaechi, ex-MILAD, others to refund N97bn

    It’s a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing, says APC

    The Rivers State Government  has  announced its intention to prosecute the immediate past governor,Mr.Rotimi Amaechi,a former military administrator of the state,Brigadier General Antony Ukpo (rtd) and several other former officials of the state ,for allegedly misappropriating N97billion public funds.

    The money is said to have accrued to the state from the sale of government assets,including four gas turbines.

    The state  Attorney-General/ Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Chinwe Aguma,(SAN) has been directed by the state government  to commence the process of prosecuting  Amaechi and two others for what it called  the sale of the    gas turbines without due process.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) of which Amaechi is leader in the  dismissed the government move as  “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

    Governor Nyesom Wike  has also ordered the suspension of permanent secretaries and other top civil servants indicted by the  Justice George Omereji  Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the sale of valued assets of the state by  the immediate past administration.

    Briefing newsmen on the government White Paper on the Commission’s report, the Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Emma Okah, said Amaechi would be prosecuted along with  former Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Chamberlain Peterside and his counterpart in the Ministry of Power, Sir Augustine Nwokocha.

    Okah said that apart from prosecuting Amaechi and others,the Attorney-General is also expected to commence the recovery of funds realized from the sale of the  gas turbines from the former governor and Nwokocha.

    He said: “ The first term of reference (of the  Judicial Commission) is to ascertain the sale of the Omoku 150 megawatts gas turbine; Afam 360 megawatts gas turbine; Trans-Amadi 136 megawatts gas turbine and the Eleme 75 megawatts gas turbine by the administration of former Governor Chibhike Rotimi Amaechi.

    “The commission finds as a fact that the sale of 70% equity from the First Independent Power Limited in Omoku gas turbine, Trans-Amadi gas turbine, Afam  Phase I gas turbine and Eleme gas turbine, has  been very difficult to justify. They have therefore recommended the review of sale of the power assets  and the government of Rivers State has accepted that recommendation.

    “The commission recommends that the former governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, along with his former commissioners for Finance and Power, Dr. Chamberlain Peterside and Augustine Nwokocha, respectively, should be held to account for their roles in the sales of the power generation assets of First Independent Power Limited and the disbursement of the proceeds there from.

    “Government accepts this recommendation and directs the office of the Honourable Attorney-General and commissioner for Justice, to promptly set in motion the appropriate machinery for the recovery of the proceeds of the sale of the gas turbines from the former governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, and every other persons implicated in the commission’s report.”

    Okah stated that the state government intends to recover  N3billion  from former Commissioner for Agriculture, Emma Chinda, which was  earmarked as  agricultural  loans to farmers.

    Amaechi’s name  was forwarded to the Senate last week along with 20 others for approval as ministers.

    Reacting  to the government action,the state publicity secretary of the APC,Mr.Chris Finebone  described the release of the government white paper as part of the scenes taken from a typical mediaeval era book of self-entertainment.

    “ It qualifies for nothing and is not worth more than the decrepit paperweight and putrefying character of its mastermind and authors. However, it is a huge relief to our leader, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi that Nyesom Wike finally accepts that an accused is taken to court of law and not court of public opinion through the manipulation of the media.

    “Governor Nyesom Wike is at liberty to amuse himself but wanton display by a governor of crass ignorance of the basic workings of government with regard to how government disposes its property and the process of channelling the payments into government coffers calls for sober reflection by every Rivers man, woman and youth. And the question begging for answer is: how did we get here?

    “The APC would like to state that those who crafted this whole melodrama know very well that their contraption is nothing more than a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the APC is glad that Governor Wike has finally hearkened to the pleas by former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to go to court to prove his accusations rather than embark on expensive strings of media trial through newspapers and worthless television documentaries.

    We have no doubt that very concrete records of every bit of matter relating to the Monorail, sale of power stations, reserve fund, agricultural grant, lease of Olympia Hotel and any others have all been articulated and already in the public domain. Of course, these will be availed the court to permanently put paid to the ongoing chicanery by Governor Nyesom Wike and his friends.”

  • Senate panel to examine petition against Amaechi

    Senate panel to examine petition against Amaechi

    Former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was parrying yesterday an attempt to stop his confirmation for minister.

    Amaechi, who was also Director General, Buhari Campaign Organisation, was one of the 21 ministerial nominees unveiled on Wednesday by Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Three senators from Rivers State –  George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East), Olaka Nwogu (Rivers South-East) and Osinakachukwu Ideazu (Rivers West) – submitted an 88-page petition to the Senate against the nomination and confirmation of Amaechi as minister.

    The petition, written by a Non-Governmental Organisation, “The Integrity Group”, based in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, was submitted to the Senate by Sekibo on behalf of the other senators.

    Entitled, “Petition against ministerial nominee: Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi: Demand to withdraw and reject his nomination and appointment on the ground of corruption, criminal breach of trust, unlawful enrichment and conversion of over N70 billion Rivers peoples’ monies by the former governor of Rivers State, Sekibo said it was endorsed one Livingstone Wechie on behalf of the group and thousands of others.

    The submission of the petition provoked a spontaneous protest in the chamber mostly by All Progressives Congress (APC) senators who kicked against it.

    Although the shout of “No way, No way, impossible” rented the Senate chamber, Sekibo was undeterred until he concluded reading the synopsis of the petition as required by the Senate’s standing rule.

    Sekibo informed the Senate that the petition bordered principally on corruption and criminal breach of trust levied against Amaechi.

    When the protest against the petition subsided, Senate President Bukola Saraki referred the controversial document to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges for consideration.

    Sekibo’s seat was instantly crowded by some senators. Others followed him to his office apparently to pick a copy of the petition.

    Sekibo later threw more light on the petition when he spoke with reporters.

    He said: “There is this group that is called ‘The Integrity Group’; they believe in transparency, fighting against corruption; they believe in good governance and effective utilisation of every fund that is allocated to any state government.

    “They are based in Port Harcourt. They went into a research and discovered that over N70billion was transferred from hard currency account to places outside the country.

    “A petition on this note was written to Mr. President. I believe the President has not read it. If he has read it, he may not have hurriedly nominated Rotimi Amaechi to be a minister.

    “Amaechi is qualified to be a minister but when issues of corruption and fraud are openly x-rayed by people, it is necessary for Mr. President to take a critical look and examine the allegations from these people, whether they are true or not.

    “Mr. President is preaching against corruption; we applaud him for the corruption fight he is waging against whoever.

    “So, if you are fighting against corruption, then there must not be any sacred cow. No matter how close a person is to you, if there are allegations about him, you must spend time to critically look at them, whether there are truth about the allegations that have been so submitted.

    “I am informed that this petition was forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) a month or two ago and I am also informed that the EFCC is also commencing to carry out investigation.

    “So, why not allow this period to go over and allow them to do their investigation and come out with the result?

    “It may be mere allegation but assuming they are true, as a serving minister with a very big portfolio and EFCC is investigating you, can they get the result of what they are looking for?

    “They will not get it.  We are not stopping Mr. President from appointing a Rivers man to be a minister; we will welcome it. There are many APC members who were not indicted or accused of such similar issues.

    “So, we have not seen the haste in pushing Amaechi to be a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “On the other hand, the Rivers State Government set up a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the sale of state government-owned property.”

  • No N53b Rivers cash was ‘missing’, says Amaechi

    No N53b Rivers cash was ‘missing’, says Amaechi

    Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi yesterday said no N53billion cash was missing during his tenure.

    He said the funds were from the Rivers State Reserve Fund which were duly approved by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    He accused Governor Nyesom Wike of resorting to last-ditch effort to scuttle his nomination as a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The ex-governor, who is now a ministerial nominee, made the clarification in a statement by his Media Office last night in Abuja.

    The statement said: “The attention of the media office of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has been drawn to a statement credited to the chairman of Mr. Nyesom Wike’s invidious panel of inquiry.

    “The statement credited to the panel’s chairman Justice Omeriji of a “missing” N53 billion is unfortunate and leaves much to be desired.

    “The mischief is all the more evident as the funds referred to are funds from the Rivers State reserve fund which was duly approved by the Rivers State House of Assembly and whose expenditure were duly captured and accounted for.

    “Ordinarily we might not have responded to the mischief of Mr. Wike, knowing that having failed with his various desperate tactics to stop the nomination of the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi as a minister he has embarked on this last-ditch effort which is his trump card in the hope that it will diminish the former governors towering stature as a statesman and honest Nigerian.”

    The ex-governor explained why it became inevitable for his administration to draw from the Reserve Fund.

    He added: “However in keeping with Governor Amaechi’s ethos of transparent and accountable leadership we will again repeat the facts of the matter. Between 2013 and early 2015 revenue accruing to the government of Rivers state was cut in half due to swindling federal allocation to states.

    “From about an average of N20 billion, the state began receiving between N9billion and N10 billion. By the middle of the first quarter of 2015 the state revenue dipped to as low as N6 billion. Salaries alone stood at over N9 billion besides other expenses.

    “Government set aside the reserve fund as a rainy day fund and had needed to fall back to it to find salaries and projects.

    “The details of the expenditure were very clearly captured and this information which was already in the public domain was shared with the incoming and the Omeriji panel. “

    Amaechi asked Governor Nyesom Wike to stop playing to the gallery.

    The statement said: “Government business should be transparent and honest and if indeed Mr. Nyesom Wike understand that basics of governance then he should know that rather than playing to the gallery with his red herring of a panel, he should simply go to court and prove his spurious allegations of corruption to court if he is sure there is corruption. “Spending resources left behind for the betterment of Rivers people by a prudent and thrifty government on frivolities is indeed irresponsible and unbecoming for a person who aspires to public office especially that of the exalted office of governor.

    “ We would counsel Mr. Wike to focus on the job at hand and try to make something of the few days he has before he leaves Brick House, per adventure he might yet make some positive impact on the minds of Rivers people.”

  • Ex-governors in Senate to back Amaechi

    Ex-governors in Senate to back Amaechi

    Senate President  Bukola Saraki and 12 other senators may have resolved to support the confirmation of former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as cabinet minister, sources said yesterday.

    The three Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators representing Rivers State had raised an objection to Amaechi’s nomination and vowed to stop his confirmation.

    Our correspondent gathered that Saraki and  former governors in the Senate have vowed to save one of their own from humiliation.

    Besides Saraki, others in the group are Senators Godswill Akpabio, Sam Egwu, Theodore Orji, Joshua Dariye, Danjuma Goje and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

    Others are Senators Jonah Jang, George Akume, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Ahmad Sani, Aliyu Wamakko, Adamu Aliero and Isiaka Adeleke.

    Our correspondent further gathered that the senators, who cut across party lines, may have started reaching out to other senators to garner enough support for Amaechi.

    It was also revealed that while Saraki will be rallying All Progressives Congress (APC) senators, Akpabio who is the Minority Leader will be reaching out to senators of PDP extraction.

    An aide to one of the senators who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity shortly after plenary session on Wednesday, confirmed the senators’ position.

    The aide said: “I can confirm to you that all the senators who were governors have decided to rally support for Amaechi to ensure his confirmation. As a matter of fact, they have picked two among themselves as contact persons.

    “Their position is that somebody who is qualified enough to be governor should also be good enough to be minister. The ex governors are also of the view that humiliation of one of them is humiliation of all”.

  • Ministerial nomination: Plot to stop Amaechi shifts to Senate

    Ministerial nomination: Plot to stop Amaechi shifts to Senate

    The plot to abort the confirmation of a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, shifted to the Senate on Wednesday.

    Amaechi, who was also Director General, Buhari Campaign Organisation, was one of the 21 ministerial nominees unveiled on Tuesday by Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

    Three Senators from Rivers State – George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East), Olaka Nwogu (Rivers South-East) and Osinakachukwu Ideazu (Rivers West) submitted 88 page petition to the Senate against the nomination and confirmation of Amaechi as minister.

    The petition written by a Non Governmental Organisation, “The Integrity Group” based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, was submitted to the Senate by Sekibo on behalf of two other Senators.

    The petition titled: “Petition against ministerial nominee- Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi: Demand to withdraw and reject his nomination and appointment on the ground of corruption, criminal breach of trust, unlawful enrichment and conversion of over N70 billion Rivers peoples’ monies by the former governor of Rivers State,”  Sekibo said t it was endorsed by one Livingstone Wechie on behalf of the group and thousands of others.

    The submission of the petition provoked spontaneous protest in the chamber by mostly All Progressives Congress (APC) senators who kicked against the petition.

    Although the shout of “No way, No way, impossible” rented the Senate chamber, Sekibo was undeterred until he concluded reading the synopsis of the petition as required by Senate standing rule.

    Sekibo informed the Senate that the petition bordered principally on corruption and criminal breach of trust levied against Amaechi.

    When the protest against the petition subsided, the Senate President referred the controversial document to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges for consideration.

    Sekibo’s seat was instantly crowded by some interested Senators, while some others followed him to his office apparently to pick a copy of the petition.

    Sekibo later threw more light on the petition when he spoke with reporters.

    He said, “There is this group that is called ‘The Integrity Group.’ They believe in transparency, fighting against corruption, they believe in good governance and effective utilisation of every fund that is allocated to any state government.

    “They are based in Port Harcourt. They went into a research and discovered that over N70billion were transferred from hard currency account to places outside the country.

    “A petition on this note was written to Mr. President. I believe the President has not read it. If he has read it, he may not have hurriedly nominated Rotimi Amaechi to be a minister.

    “Amaechi is qualified to be a minister but when issues of corruption and fraud are openly x-rayed by people, it is necessary for Mr. President to take a critical look and examine the allegations from these people whether they are true or not.”