The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has reacted to the statement released by the former governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi, rejecting an award he had earlier planned to honour him with as one of the past leaders of the state.
Recall that Nyesom Wike had listed Rotimi Amaechi as part of the recipient of the award planned to honour oast leaders of the state and as part of the state’s 50th annoversary celebration.
In reaction to the rejection of his award, the state governor noted that the award was not aimed at validating “Mr Amaechi’s horrendous administration, but was an acceptance of the recommendation of the organizing committee that a variety of awards, be given to different categories of individuals who have earned a place in the history of the State.”
Nyesom Wike in the statement released by the state’s commissioner of information, Austin Tam-George, noted that teh state is indeed relieved with “the news of the rejection of a proposed State award, by a former governor of the State, and current Minister for Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi”.
“The statement further noted that the state Government was never set out to “honour Amaechi for any meritorious service to the State during his time as governor.” adding that “as part of the events of the State’s Golden Jubilee celebration, the State government accepted the recommendation of the organizing committee that a variety of awards be given to different categories of individuals who have earned a place in the history of the State.”
The statement further noted that “there is a category of the awards designated for former governors of the State. And as a former governor, Mr Amaechi fell automatically into that category.”
“We wish to emphasise that the award was never meant as a validation of Mr Amaechi’s horrendous administration.
“Mr Amaechi was personally indicted for stealing billions of public funds during his time in office, by a court-approved panel of inquiry set up by the state government.
“The government will soon initiate a prosecutorial process against him in multiple jurisdictions, in Nigeria and abroad. And no award would have stopped that process.
“We must confess that as a government, we wrestled with the moral horror of giving any kind of award to a man whose government was no better than a criminal syndicate.
“Mr Amaechi may be a scoundrel of history, but he was once a governor of the state. The proposed award was to serve as a sad acknowledgement of the especially dark place he occupies in our State’s otherwise illustrious history.
“His rejection of the award is, therefore, a huge moral relief for the administration and the people of the state.”