DENNIS NAKU reports that the recent Supreme Court judgment on the probe of the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, will, among other issues, shape the nature and complexion of the governorship election in the crude oil and gas rich state in 2023
In the coming months, the political turf in Rivers State will begin to gather steam as the 2023 general election beckons.
The no love lost situation between Governor Nyesom Wike and his estranged political ally and predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, has now risen to a crescendo with a recent criminal suit instituted against the former Minister of Transportation as regards the sale of state assets.
The coincidental return of Wike and Amaechi back to the state after their courageous but failed political adventure to secure the ticket of their respective parties to pave the way for them to contest the president position in the general election gave vent to the new reality.
It is no longer news that Wike and Amaechi gave a good account of themselves in the presidential primaries of their respective parties—the Peoples’ Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress,—both emerging as first runners-up amidst the politics that played out and the lessons therein.
The quarrel dates back to 2013, when Amaechi was rounding off his second term in office as Rivers State Governor, he never hid his feelings that he never wanted Wike to succeed him, while the latter was determined to do so, especially with the groundswell support he garnered from the centre at the time, Wike succeeded, to Amaechi’s chagrin and consternation, who on his part, did not lose out anyway.
Indeed, he succeeded in securing a top spot at the centre following his appointment as the Minister of Transportation after Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) was elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
At the centre of the fresh crisis between the two political actors, is the report of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by Wike when he assumed office in 2015 to probe the sale of valuable state assets, which the incumbent government claimed indicted Amaechi on the grounds that the financial dealings to the tune of N96 billion did not follow due process and was therefore fraudulent.
Some believe that Amaechi was handed a taste of his own medicine, as he had himself empanelled a similar commission headed by the then Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, against his former boss and predecessor, Dr Peter Odili, though the context was different.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the latest vapour largely points towards the 2023 elections in the state.
Again, there is an allegation against Mr. Tonye Cole’s, an ally of Amaechi and co-owner of Sahara Energy, that a whopping sum of $50m was transferred from the state government account while Amaechi held sway as governor to his company (Sahara Energy).
Wike speaks
To give vent to the political colouration, Wike, during a thanksgiving in Port Harcourt on Sunday, May 8, 2022, said Cole, who had emerged as the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers State for the 2023 election, must explain how his firm (Sahara Energy) allegedly received the said sum of $50m from the Rivers State Government during Amaechi’s administration, alleging that it was an active connivance to rip off the state.
The governor said, “He (Cole) must account for the $50m they took from our account.” Whoever knows him should tell him. $50m was taken from the Rivers State Government Access Bank Account and taken to the Sahara Energy Account.
I asked them, “What is the job you people did for Rivers State?” Can I see the contract papers? “
But precisely 24 hours after Wike’s state assets sale allegation, on Monday, May 9, 2022, Cole, while fielding questions from reporters in Port Harcourt, replied to the governor, saying he had no case to answer. He said the contracts and all the documents regarding the transaction, which Wike put at $50m, were not done in secret.
He boasted that eight years down the line, he has not been indicted or invited to any court to answer any case relating to the allegations levelled against him by Governor Wike.
On Friday, June 10, 2022, after assigning portfolios to three new commissioners in the government house, Wike made good on his prosecution threat by directing the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, to commence diligent prosecution of the alleged illegal financial dealings to the tune of N96bn, involving the immediate past governor, Rotimi Amaechi, Mr. Tonye Cole, Sahara Energy, and others over the state assets sale.
The governor had instituted a commission of inquiry to look into the alleged sale of valuable assets such as Omoku Gas Turbine, Afam Gas Turbine, Trans Amadi Gas Turbine, Eleme Gas Turbine, Olympia Hotel and the award of a contract for the execution of the Mono Rail Project.
S’Court judgment
Recall that the Supreme Court had in May 2022, dismissed Amaechi’s appeal seeking to stop his probe into the alleged fraud. The appeal, which was led by Justice Adamu Jauro, who led the seven-member panel of justices while delivering judgment, was dismissed for lack of merit.
The apex court affirmed the judgments of the High Court of Rivers and that of the Court of Appeal, which had earlier dismissed the same suit for want of substance and merit.
The court also asked the former minister to pay the respondents N1m.
Amaechi had approached the Supreme Court, praying for an order from the court to prohibit his successor, Wike, from investigating his eight-year tenure as Rivers State executive governor.
Amaechi, represented by Lateef Fagbemi, said the probe was aimed at witch-hunting, embarrassing, humiliating, and disgracing him in view of his political differences with his successor.
Continuing, Wike said it was the decision of the leaders of the state to prosecute the former governor and an energy firm, Sahara Energy, allegedly indicted in the deals.
The governor, in a statement issued by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, said, “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 judgment on it.”
A suit marked PHC/1818/CR/2022, filed on June 7, had Cole, Dr. Chamberlain Peterside, Augustine Wokocha, Sahara Energy Resources Limited, NG Power-HpS Limited, and Cenpropsaroten Management Limited as Amaechi’s co-defendants.
The Amaechi and co-defendants’ offences were contained in the charge sheet, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent in Port Harcourt.
Among others, the state alleged that Amaechi and his co-defendants within the same period “stole the same amount of money being proceeds from the sale of 70% equity belonging to her in the power generation assets at Omoku, Trans-Amadi, Eleme, and Afam Gas turbines.”
The charge sheet was signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, C.F. Amadi, for the Attorney-General of Rivers State.
Amaechi allays fear
Reacting to the allegations, Amaechi, shortly after returning to the state on Saturday, July 2, 2022, said though he was ready for the legal battle with Wike, he could not be sued.
The APC presidential aspirant, who was on his first visit to the state since losing the ticket to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, called on his supporters to put aside their differences and work for the party’s victory in 2023.
While making reference to the judgment of the Supreme Court on the matter, the former Transportation Minister wondered how he was indicted by a panel that did not hear his side on the matter.
Amaechi stated that he had nothing to fear as every transaction with respect to the state government assets while he piloted the affairs of the state was done transparently.
“First is, I hope the governor has good lawyers. The Supreme Court said in its judgment, when they said he (Wike) has powers to set up a panel, that the work of the panel is to gather information and, after they have finished gathering information, they would pass the information to the ICPC, the police or the EFCC.
“The police have not invited me; the ICPC has not invited me; the EFCC has not invited me.”
There is what is called a “fair hearing.” It is at that point where they invite me that they will hear my own side of the story. They haven’t heard my side of the story; you’re going to court for what?
Amaechi’s remarks to his supporters about why they were afraid of the election by going to court suggested that a heated polity in the state was on the horizon.
He made a veil reference that Wike was bent on stopping Cole, which underscores the suit against him.
Amaechi said, “All those who are afraid of elections and want to go to court to remove people’s names from the ballot, why are they afraid of elections? I thought they were popular. We will test ourselves in the election. It will be total arrogance to just sit at home and think you will win.
“Trust the court; justice will be done. Don’t be afraid. Go home and work. Let all of us be unit leaders. No more local government leaders, no ward leaders. “
An APC chieftain and former spokesman for the nPDP, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, came to Amaechi’s defiance, saying Wike’s attempt to prosecute the former Transport Minister was diversionary.
