Amaechi Accuses Wike of Forging Documents against Him

• His blackmail of judiciary will fail, says gov

The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has accused the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, of forging documents with the intention to use them and prosecute him in court.

Amaechi who was the governor of Rivers State, alleged that Wike has been “twisting, falsifying and forging fresh documents that he intends to use against me, bragging that he would certainly get a conviction against him.”

In a statement issued by his media office yesterday, Amaechi alleged that the governor “wants to use the elaborately distorted and most times outright but carefully forged documents to persecute and prosecute his erstwhile benefactor in court.

“In the past couple of days, Wike has been telling anyone who cares to listen, bragging that he will certainly get a conviction- a judgment against Amaechi in the law courts on spurious charges of corruption using his forged documents because he (Wike) is in control of the judiciary at the state and national level,” the statement said.

The minister alleged that Wike had been boasting that he has the judges in the state judiciary in his pocket; that he was in full control and that the state judiciary would always give him any judgment he wanted against his predecessor at the apex court, “using his contorted documents.”

He said: “Wike is also telling anyone who cares to listen that the Supreme Court (justices) and judges generally are not happy with Amaechi and so they would easily convict him with any forged document he presents in court. Wike is using the recent visit of the CJN to state as his bragging right to prove his ‘extreme’ closeness to the CJN.”

Amaechi alleged that a few days ago, one Livingstone Wechie who the governor used to accuse him of corruption and had written false and frivolous petitions to the National Assembly, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  has “confessed in a live television programme and in a statement he also circulated to the media that all the documents he used to wrongfully portry Amaechi as corrupt when he governed Rivers State, were phonies, forged documents given to him by Wike’s Rivers State Government House.

“Wechie also admitted, like we have always said, that the forged documents were used as the template and basis for the Justice Omereji-led Judicial Commission of Inquiry, a panel Wike set up early in his administration to witch-hunt, malign, vilify and persecute Amaechi.

“Sadly, this is the kind of administration that presides over the affairs of Rivers people. An administration that embarks on wholesale forgery and distortion of government documents and then retails it out to his minions, the media and now the judiciary in a shameful and futile bid to defame and destroy Amaechi. Brazenly, without any scruples, Governor Wike runs an administration that manufactures and concocts documents to indict Amaechi of corruption. Yes, this is the kind of character, a low-level conman that is at the helm of affairs in Rivers State,” the statement alleged.

The statement also said since he became governor, Wike’s sole agenda has been to attack and vilify Amaechi.

The minister in the statement said Nigerians would not forget in a hurry how Wike lied that the over $43million found by EFCC in a luxury apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos and the apartment belonged to him. 

However, Wike has reacted to the allegation, saying the minister has embarked on another journey to blackmail the judiciary again and noted that his plan would fail.

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu,  the governor denied the allegations  and described them as unfounded and baseless.

“Our attention has been drawn to a reckless press statement credited to Amaechi to the effect Wike is forging documents to secure his conviction in a court of law. This allegation is unfounded, baseless and a figment of the imagination of the former governor,” the statement said.

It noted that the minister also went ahead to falsely allege that Wike bragged that he has the judiciary at the state and federal level in his pocket to secure his conviction on charges  of corruption, saying, “This is another false allegation, merely concocted by the former governor  to distract attention  from the crimes he committed against Rivers people, by diverting their resources.”

“This statement issued by Amaechi  is part of the campaign of calumny launched by the former governor, following  the foundation stone  laid by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen for the construction of the Rivers State judges’ quarters.  The former governor sponsored advertorials and electronic adverts through proxies to stop the laudable project without success, hence the resort to falsehood and character assassination.

“We are not surprised by Amaechi’s antics to blackmail the judiciary.  Ever since the Supreme Court victory that validated the election of Wike, Amaechi has never failed to malign the judiciary. The governor is a law abiding citizen, who believes in the rule of law. That is why he has followed due process in tackling the issues of high level corruption against the Minister of Transportation,” the statement said.