Presidency and Gov. Amaechi in war of words over corruption accusation

The Federal and Rivers State governments were, yesterday, locked in a hot exchange of words following accusation that the present federal administration had institutionalised corruption and given the vice a human face.

Governor Chibuke Amaechi who was the guest speaker at the 2nd annual Peoples Daily Conference tagged, ‘Nigeria: The 2015 Question,’ threw the first shot when he accused the Jonathan administration of reversing the deliberate efforts made by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in fighting corruption through established institutions.


He cited, among others recent revelations, of sleaze in federal agencies including allegations of the misuse of subsidies in petrol, kerosene and allegations of sharp practices in allocation of oil blocs.

“Whopping sums of $10 billion and $20 billion were alleged to have been missing; the aviation bullet-proof car saga remains unresolved, the subsidy saga is also unresolved and the Shell Malabu story. The impunity in fighting corruption is now extended to the door steps of those fighting corruption,’’ Governor Amaechi said in a speech delivered on his behalf by his Commissioner for Information, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari

He described the removal of the Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as unconstitutional, accusing the President of total disrespect for the rule of law. 

According to him, the rate of unemployment has continued on the upward swing since Jonathan emerged as President.
 
The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku was, however, swift in hitting back at Amaechi as he called on the citizenry to look at all levers of government in checking the problems of the country.
 
Maku, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Media, Kingsley Osadolor, who noted that Nigerians had witnessed in the past few years a great deal of grand-standing by the political elite, said that in the process of grand-standing, politicians had always personified Nigerian crises and the personification of the crisis had been reduced to the person of President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said: ‘‘The Nigerian political class has some self-examination to do between now and 2015 and added to that, is the obligation that we should also take away from this conference. Nigerian political class, beyond this hall, how do we get other Nigerians to be fully aware of this challenge the political class faces?”

The Federal government accused the Rivers State government of building model schools worth billions of naira and handing them over to foreigners from India to manage leading to capital flight and warned that people should stop heating up the polity.