Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike
Gov accuses police, EFCC of shielding Amaechi from probe
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has urged Nigerians to be wary of fifth columnists within the system.Wike, who said he was opposed to disintegration of Nigeria, reiterated the call for the practice of true federalism whereby the federating units control their resources and pay taxes to the centre.
The governor, while reacting to the quit notice issued by some northern youthgroups to Igbo to leave that section of the country in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the unfolding scenario in the country calls for serious introspection, as he believes some unseen forces might be attempting to derail the political system.
He said those who are calling for war might not understand the enormity of their action. He said he suspects some people are really fanning the ember of discord in a bid to make Nigerians react and then they will take advantage of the situation by alleging that the entire country is riddled with crises.
“Who is playing this game? We must be careful, thinking that they are ethnic groups that are drumming this war. We must be careful. Nobody must be told. We have to look inwards, find out who are those drumming this. Are there people who are planning something to be funny so that they will say there are so much crises in Nigeria? We must be careful.”
The governor also said he was opposed to those who are clamouring for secession irrespective of their claim, saying: “I will not do that. But I will support true federalism where states are allowed to control their resources and pay taxes to the Federal Government.”
In another development, Wike has accused the police and Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of frustrating efforts to prosecute the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, over sales of valued Rivers State assets.
Wike said that despite a Court of Appeal judgment vindicating the setting up of a judicial commission of inquiry, which indicted Amaechi, the police have failed to arrest and prosecute the minister.
The governor stated this yesterday in Port Harcourt while reacting to the minister’s claim over the weekend that he was mismanaging the state resources, diverting local councils federal allocations and foisting the reign of insecurity across Rivers State.
Wike said there was an overwhelming evidence as contained in the report of Justice George Omereji Commission of Inquiry that $309 million being money received from the sales of the state’s gas turbine power plants was diverted by the Amaechi administration.
The minister had repeatedly denied the allegation and had threatened to sue the governor whenever he leaves office. Wike said the state had desired the co-operation of the police and the EFCC to prosecute Amaechi but to no avail. He stressed that the state would continue to press for the prosecution of the minister.
Besides, an Asaba-based legal practitioner, Mr. Maurice Dunkwu, yesterday said the Arewa youths who gave quit notice to Igbo to leave their region and those who claimed to be Biafrans calling for Biafra Republic were threading on the path of ignorance.
He said: “It is unfortunate at this stage of our national history. I do not see the need for all these; rather, it is a way of destroying the unity of our great country Nigeria.”
He said that many of those making the demand from both sides are youths born after the Nigerian civil war and they do not know the socio-economic and political implications of what they are agitating for.
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