The Executive Director of The Integrity Group, Livingstone Wechie has alleged that the Rivers State government forged all documents the group submitted to the Justice Omereji led panel of inquiry in 2015 just to indict the Minister of Transport and former Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of corruption.
Wechi in what could be regarded as a confessional on a live television programme and subsequent press statement, said his group relied on the documents believing same to be true haven emanated from the government but on further probe it was discovered to be false
Here is a full text of the statement:
The Integrity Friends for truth and peace Initiative a.k.a The Integrity Group, an anti-corruption watchdog had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in a letter dated July 29, 2015 titled:
“CORRUPTION, CRIMINAL BREACH OF TRUST, UNLAWFUL ENRICHMENT, AND CONVERSION OF OVER 70 BILLION NAIRA STATE RESOURCES BY FORMER GOVERNOR ROTIMI AMAECHI AND OTHER FUNCTIONARIES’’, demanding the investigation and prosecution of Rotimi Amaechi over a then falsely believed conversion of Rivers monies/proceeds of the purported sales of State Assets including Power Plants, a certain Karibi Whyte Hospital and diversion of some monies from the Rivers State Internal Revenue Service etc.
Same petition was addressed to the Senate President which was laid on the floor On 8 August, 2015, and I in my capacity as the Executive Director of the Integrity Group appeared upon invitation before the Senate Committee on Public Petitions, Ethics and Privileges on October 12, 2015.
It is important to note that although all matters touching on the allegations leveled against Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi were part of our good governance and transparency projects done in good faith in line with our principles, unfortunately the Nyesom Wike led Rivers State government cashed into it and mischievously furnished us with ALL POLITICALLY FABRICATED AND FORGED DOCUMENTS which we sincerely and honestly worked with in good faith wrongly believing same to be genuine.
May we state that our organization in all honesty relying on those documents unknown to have been forged and fabricated by the Wike-led Rivers State government, subsequently advised the Rivers State government to set up a Panel of Inquiry to investigate these allegations among others accordingly as part of our quest to get justice for the good people of Rivers State. The Panel did its work in fairness to the Chairman, Hon. Justice George Omereji and the members and submitted their report to the governor unknown to the world that it was all politics and documents tendered were fabricated and forged out of sheer desperation to indict Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and paint him black at all costs for selfish reasons.
This is one reason among others that the Wike-led River State government having mischievously achieved their aim of diminishing Amaechi, are still unable, two years after, to commence prosecutorial actions as of right against Rotimi Amaechi knowing that the documents will be challenged having been forged.
Incidentally, Nyesom Wike and his government which rode on the wings of the politically fabricated corruption stigma on Rotimi Amaechi to become governor and continues to rule with same antics of abusing Hon Amaechi as State policy have violated and abused almost all sections of the Public Procurement Law of Rivers State including the Budget, a law and bible of fiscal administration which he continues to hide in his pocket (a most heinous crime) wherefrom he solely awards contracts at will including several unbudgeted projects from his office to his choice companies on behalf of the three arms of government in the State which have had no say for more than two years now, yet misleading the unsuspecting public with his lifeline of ‘’Amaechi is corrupt’’. For the records and fairly so, as it concerns fiscal policy, the Rotimi Amaechi administration during its eight years in power published its appropriation laws (budgets) yet days after the Wike government came on board, the state budget which the Amaechi government left behind was pulled down from the state website and since then, the state budgets, a Law have remain the classified document privy to only the Governor: a most criminal act of the highest order.
Our organization as a mark of the highest responsibility owes the world a duty of honesty and trust; not being a political platform but strictly an anti-corruption watchdog to question and engage any government without fear in keeping with probity in governance. May we state that just as we questioned the Amaechi government on major fiscal matters during the life of his administration through our various platforms, we shall also not spare the Wike administration which has shown gross abuse of powers much more than the Rotimi Amaechi administration at an alarming degree. Little wonder why nobody appears to be asking questions or engaging the Wike led government on technical matters in the handling of public funds.
We challenge the Wike-led government to immediately publish all budgets of Rivers State for the past two years plus, publish all procurement plans thereto, publish evidence of all competitive biddings and tenders on all projects and contracts executed so far under this administration including his security votes, publish evidence of every statutory allocation to the three arms of government in Rivers State and independent management of projects by these arms in line with relevant laws in force in the State to show that it is not a ‘’dishonest’’, extortionist, malevolent and criminal government.
The civil society in line with our good governance and accountability project shall not relent in continuously demanding accountable governance in the state and beyond to checkmate various frivolous activities and banquets not captured in any known budgets, a thing likened to Henry Barlow’s “Building the Nation’’ because Rivers State has had its more than fair share of poor governance since the return to civil rule in 1999. Our peers, especially Lagos State has left us in the dust. Rather than govern, Rivers State has again been infested with a dictator who thinks of our State as his conquered territory. May it be known that the Wike-led government rode on the wings of the false Amaechi corruption stigma to gain ostensible popularity and stability including a genuine struggle by the mainstream civil society and the governor has today expectedly defied every standard accountability order and corruptly pocketed the state without anyone particularly our sleeping elites asking any questions. The time has come for all Rivers men and women of goodwill to rise up and demand their rights as citizens and residents of the State. We hereby call on all the leaders in the State including every other state in a similar circumstance to rise up and challenge this monstrous control freak NOW before our State is finally laid waste.
In the coming days we shall unleash all the grand criminal violations which Mr Wike has visited on our State so that Stake Holders can take stock and decide on the urgent steps needed to salvage our beloved State.
Finally, we call on the general public and all relevant institutions to disregard all documents tendered by our organization indicting the Rt Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi including particularly the so-called Omereji Report and the subsequent white paper by the Rivers State government as all documents tendered were all politically fabricated and forged by the Nyesom Wike government of Rivers state to achieve his unrighteous end.
However, in a swift reaction, Mr. Meshack Uyi , a trustee of the group and a signatory to the petition against Amaechi has distanced the group from the said statement by Wechie describing it as his personal opinion.
Uyi while speaking on a radio programme Tuesday in Port Harcourt said the group was not consulted by Wechie, adding that it stands by all documents presented against Amaechi .
He urged members of the public to regard the confessions of Wechie as his own personal opinion and not that of the group.
