Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has challenged former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi to explain the alleged expenditure of $39 million on a hospital he claimed did not exist.
Wike made the remarks during his media parley on Tuesday, questioning Amaechi’s management of public funds during his tenure as governor.
He accused the former governor of failing to account for several expenditures, including $10 million allegedly spent on fumigating Rivers State and $308 million from the sale of gas turbines.
Wike also questioned Amaechi’s decision to seek higher political office without addressing the allegations.
“After you have left office, with the type of things you have done, you still have that audacity, that humility to come and tell Nigerians you want to be their vice president, when you are unable to explain how you fumigated a state for $10 million, when you are unable to explain how you spent $39 million on a hospital that didn’t exist, when you are unable to explain $308 million you sold gas turbines, and now you cannot come and tell people that the president is a thief,” he said.
The FCT minister further alleged that Amaechi demolished an existing teaching hospital before proposing a new 1,000-bed facility, which he said was to be known as Caribbean White Hospital.
According to Wike, Amaechi had claimed to have secured a partnership with a Canadian company, Clinotek, for the proposed project.
“Secondly, look, you were a governor for Christ sake and you told look there was a teaching hospital you put it down and you said you are going to build 1,000 bed hospital and you name it Caribbean White Hospital and you say you have a partner a partner who is a company called Clinotek from Canada,” Wike said.
He claimed to possess video evidence of Amaechi discussing the project and called on the former governor to account for the funds allegedly committed to it.
“I would have given you the video or I will send you the video where he said we have paid our own capital to come and make a statement on this so that we’ll be able to have it and prosecute him,” he said.
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Wike also accused the police of failing to invite Amaechi over the matter, despite an alleged court order directing them to bring him before the court.
“Do you know what happened? The police never, never, invited him. He went to court. The court made an order that the police should bring him to court for where? No way,” he added.
The minister again questioned Amaechi’s ambition to seek the presidency without first addressing the allegations.
“But this is a man who wants to aspire to become a presidential candidate, to rule Nigeria as the first president. That’s such a character,” Wike said.
The allegations against Amaechi were presented by Wike during the media parley. The claims regarding the hospital expenditure, gas turbine sale and police handling of the matter were not independently established in the account.
