The Rivers State Government has said that the recent comment by British Prime Minister, David Cameron on Nigeria as being “fantastically corrupt” was in an apparent reference to the Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi’s “corrupt” legacy in Rivers State.
The State’s Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George who disclosed this in a press statement, said Amaechi had become the symbol of corruption in Nigeria, as he had been indicted by a court-approved judicial panel of inquiry over gross mismanagement and stealing of public funds.
Tam-George said, “Mr. Amaechi’s presence in the federal cabinet is a horrendous blight on President Buhari’s anti-corruption War.”
The Commissioner called on the British Government, which is the convener of the ongoing Anti Corruption Conference in the United Kingdom, to feature the alleged looting of the Rivers State Treasury by the Amaechi administration as a key item of discussion at the conference.
He noted that Amaechi’s mismanagement of public funds had led to misery and mass poverty in Rivers State.
He lamented that “although Amaechi received N3 Trillion in eight years, he left the most abandoned projects in the history of Rivers State since 1967.”
The Rivers information boss called on Amaechi to resign from office in order to give credibility to President Buhari’s anti-graft war.
Tam-George also accused Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, a key supporter of Rotimi Amaechi, of turning a blind eye on Amaechi’s nefarious legacy in Rivers State.
The Commissioner commended the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike for running a transparent and people-oriented government, through the delivery of quality service.
