Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, has mocked former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, saying he can’t escape trial following the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry to probe some transactions during Mr Amaechi’s tenure as Rivers governor.
The Quest Times reports that in a follow-up to the commission of enquiry, Wike directed the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zaccheus Adangor, to commence prosecution against Amaechi and others.
Wike taunted Amaechi in response to comments made by the former minister during the burial of former Minister, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas. Amaechi had blasted Gov Wike for failing to organise a state burial for the late elder statesman.
Wike accused him of playing politics with Graham-Douglas’ death, stating further that his administration spent no less than N50m to assist Alabo when he was sick, while the former APC presidential aspirant was nowhere to be found.
He further mocked Amaechi, accusing him of seeking to use Police contacts to suppress his trial, stating that: “You can no longer see Buhari, you can’t escape fraud trial.”
ALSO READ: ANALYSIS: Betrayal, Intrigues, and PDP’s Murky Road to 2023
Wike said, “People like to use the deaths of some prominent people to play politics. If you go for burial and you are going to honour a man that had died, you honour the man and not use the man’s death to play politics.
“I am disappointed that the former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, will still come to this state to talk about this government not giving late Alabo Graham Douglas a state burial. It is unfortunate.
“I asked him when Alabo was sick where were you? This state government committed so much amount of money to make sure Alabo survived. I want to challenge anybody. We didn’t spend less than N50m to make sure our elder statesman survived. It is the survival we want.
“We wanted him to be alive. When his son, the late son, had an accident and was flown to London, this state government took the cost of it. We didn’t need to say all these. They like to eulogise the dead.
“Why will I give him state burial, when I saw you people had brought politics to the man’s burial? I decided to withdraw myself because I didn’t want to be involved in politics. But we spent such an amount of money to save our leader when you could not bring one naira.
ALSO READ: I spend more money on designer clothes than Hushuppi, Portable brags
Moving away from the Alabo issue, Wike further mocked Amaechi over his alleged failure to gain access to the Presidential Villa following his resignation as minister and unsuccessful presidential run.
“You thought you would not finish as a Minister. But you have left. I heard you can’t even enter Villa now. All those period you intimidated the police and army people is over. When you used to tell them, ‘the president is angry with you’. Now go and tell them and they will ask you ‘which president are you seeing? You are seeing no president’,” Wike continued.
“I am proud of myself and my team. I am proud that I have done something in this state. I may not have satisfied everybody, majority of the people will say my administration has done a lot to improve our state. So, don’t distract us again. If you do I will say more things that when Nigerians see you they will pour you hot water. So, be careful.
“We are prosecuting you but you are running around mounting pressure on the Inspector-General of Police that they should not allow them to testify. But you said your hands are clean, why not come to court so that they will ask you questions?
“Stop doing everything to ensure your trial doesn’t go on. It will go on. Even if I leave office, the incoming governor will make sure that the trial goes on. You can’t run away from it. You told people lies. You don’t like money, meanwhile, your eyes don’t see money at all”.