A former Commissioner of Transport in River State, Mr
Tolofari George, has said Governor Nyesom Wike lied that his predecessor, Mr
Rotimi Amaechi, abandoned the state’s aircraft in Germany.
On Wednesday, Wike said the
state-owned aircraft, Legacy 600, was flown and abandoned in Germany during the
administration of Rotimi Amaechi.
But George, in a
statement on Wednesday, said the allegation was mischievous and intended to
attack Amaechi.
He said, “Once again, in his characteristic mischievous
style, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has sought to malign and attack his
predecessor and erstwhile benefactor, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi
Amaechi by making false allegations.
“This time the governor claims that his predecessor secretly
abandoned an aircraft belonging to the Rivers State Government in Germany.
“The lie in the Rivers State Government rant is so obvious.
It is simply not possible that a plane that was properly documented in the
handover notes of the state ministry of transport (which I supervised as
Commissioner) to the incoming administration in 2015 can be said to be secretly
abandoned? How?
“When we got the new aircraft that the current government is
using now, the older Legacy aircraft was sent to Germany for repairs and
refurbishment and then to be sold to generate revenue for critical
infrastructural projects in the state. To the Previous administration, there
was no economic sense to keep and maintain two State planes. The cost was just
too prohibitive, so the plan was to sell off the older Legacy plane.”
George added that the plane was still in Germany at the time
Amaechi handed over to Wike.
“In 2015 when the new administration took over, they claimed
the same aircraft had been stolen. Today, they are now saying again that the
aircraft was secretly abandoned.
We can now all see that the issue is purely political and
vindictive, hurling false allegations on the previous administration. That the
Legacy aircraft was in RUAG, Germany was written in my handover note that is in
the custody of the Rivers State Government,” he added.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in Rivers State
under the Amaechi-led administration, Emmanuel Chinda, has faulted Wike’s
claims.
Chinda, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, and
loyalist of Amaechi, who is now the Minister of Transportation, disclosed that
the said documentation was done before the aircraft was moved out of the state.
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Chinda, who spoke in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, said
contrary to Wike’s claims that the plane was abandoned, the aircraft was taken
to Germany for maintenance purposes.
He claimed that the present administration is aware of the
development, adding that the governor is only interested in playing politics
with every situation.
He said, “He (Wike) has been talking about Rivers State’s
plane for the past four years now. As usual, what he did was to take his
friends to use tax payers’ money as they have always done, to go for their
meeting.
“If it is not so, tell me which aviation expert was in that
delegation he took to Germany. What you see there are group of politicians for
his ‘Wike for President’ or for governors’ comity of friends.
“When we were in government, that aircraft got bad and it
was taken overseas for repairs. I don’t know how long it would have taken to
come back, but there was a proper documentation done before it was taken out of
the country.
“It wouldn’t have been successfully taken out of the country
without documentation. A proper documentation was done and that was how Wike
was able to trace it to that place.
“The aircraft was bad and was sent for maintenance. Aircraft
is not taxi that you handle anyhow. It went for maintenance and there was
proper documentation.”
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