The plot to abort the confirmation of a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, shifted to the Senate on Wednesday, when a petition written by a Non Governmental Organisation, “The Integrity Group” was submitted to the Senate by George Thompson Sekibo on behalf of two other Senators.
Amaechi, who was also Director General, Buhari Campaign Organisation, was one of the 21 ministerial nominees unveiled on Tuesday by Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Three Senators from Rivers State – Sekibo (Rivers East), Olaka Nwogu (Rivers South-East) and Osinakachukwu Ideazu (Rivers West) submitted 88 page petition to the Senate against the nomination and confirmation of Amaechi as minister.
The petition titled: “Petition against ministerial nominee- Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi: Demand to withdraw and reject his nomination and appointment on the ground of corruption, criminal breach of trust, unlawful enrichment and conversion of over N70 billion Rivers peoples’ monies by the former governor of Rivers State,” Sekibo said t it was endorsed by one Livingstone Wechie on behalf of the group and thousands of others.
The submission of the petition provoked spontaneous protest in the chamber by mostly All Progressives Congress (APC) senators who kicked against the petition.
Although the shout of “No way, No way, impossible” rented the Senate chamber, Sekibo was undeterred until he concluded reading the synopsis of the petition as required by Senate standing rule.
Sekibo informed the Senate that the petition bordered principally on corruption and criminal breach of trust levied against Amaechi.
When the protest against the petition subsided, the Senate President referred the controversial document to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges for consideration.
Sekibo’s seat was instantly crowded by some interested Senators, while some others followed him to his office apparently to pick a copy of the petition.
Sekibo who later threw more light on the petition when he spoke with reporters, said that “There is this group that is called ‘The Integrity Group.’ They believe in transparency, fighting against corruption, they believe in good governance and effective utilisation of every fund that is allocated to any state government.
“They are based in Port Harcourt. They went into a research and discovered that over N70 billion were transferred from hard currency account to places outside the country.
“A petition on this note was written to Mr. President. I believe the President has not read it. If he has read it, he may not have hurriedly nominated Rotimi Amaechi to be a minister.
“Amaechi is qualified to be a minister but when issues of corruption and fraud are openly x-rayed by people, it is necessary for Mr. President to take a critical look and examine the allegations from these people whether they are true or not,” he said.
Follow Us
