When Ministerial Nominees Appeared Before the Senate (II)
After weeks of suspense and surprise, former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, finally took a bow before the Senate last Thursday. Omololu Ogunmade goes down memory lane, highlighting various intrigues which almost stalled Amaechi’s screenin
For Amaechi, It’s a Rough Path All the Way
For former Governor of Rivers State, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, it was a victory song at last on Thursday when his screening which had been a subject of controversy for three weeks eventually took place in the Senate amid a huge protest by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators who boycotted the screening process.
The embattled former governor had been in the eye of the storm since September 30, when President Muhammadu Buhari sent his name to the Senate for screening and confirmation as a ministerial nominee.
The Intrigues Began
Shortly after his name was read on the floor of the parliament by Senate President Bukola Saraki on October 6, 2015, a non-governmental organisation, The Integrity Group, swiftly filed a petition against his nomination, alleging the diversion of a whopping N70 billion Rivers State’s money into his personal account.
The petition was entitled: “Petition Against Ministerial Nominee: Chibuike RotimiAmaechi: Demand to Withdraw and Reject His Nomination and Appointment on the Corruption, Criminal Breach of Trust, Unlawful Enrichment and Conversion of over N70 billion Rivers Peoples Monies by the Former Governor of Rivers State.”
The group said its mission was to fight corruption and ensure that corrupt persons were simultaneously brought to justice and stolen monies recovered. Breaking down the figures, the petitioners alleged the fraudulent sale of state power projects secretly without advertising it in accordance with the policy of public procurement as well as the conversion of $302 million proceeds of the sales to N60.480 billion without remitting it to state coffers.
According to them, Amaechi secretly sold the four power plants belonging to Rivers State - Onne, Afam, Eleme and Trans-Amadi - to his choice buyer whom they said made the payment in dollars into the state assets sales account. They added that Amaechi later ordered the payment made in dollars to be diverted into some of his choice bureau de change companies’ accounts.
“It is important to note that some of these companies are not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and none was a licensed Bureau de Change agent on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) list of licensed Bureau de Change agents as at the time of the transactions,” the group said.
The petitioners added that as contained in the document earlier sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independemt Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Amaechi and his aides did not return the converted monies in naira to the state coffers.
“Suffice it to say that from our findings, incontrovertible facts and evidence, with documents to show, those companies were used as conduits to siphon Rivers State commonwealth with impunity,” the group added.
The petitioner also alleged that Amaechi did not only divert state money to his account but also boasted of doing so in a public statement where he was quoted as saying “if we go and change it (dollars) in a bank, it will be N150.00 to a dollar but if we go to black market, it will be N175.00 to a dollar, l said change in black market.”
They therefore alleged that it was no longer an allegation judging from the former governor’s public statement about how he got the money converted to naira in the black market. The group also alleged unlawful and fraudulent conversion and payment of N4.6 billion to Clinoriv Specialist Hospital and Leisure Ltd. whereas “the mystery hospital cannot be found anywhere or even a stone laid on the proposed site.”
The group also alleged that Amaechi gave N12.5 per cent interest to Messrs Collect Nigeria Ltd. instead of 5 per cent usually given to revenue services companies, saying the company was used a platform to divert Rivers State’s money.
The group decried Amaechi’s perceived disregard to a constituted authority following his failure to appear before the judicial panel of inquiry set up by Rivers State Government to prove his administration, concluding that Amaechi’s nomination for a ministerial position should not only be withdrawn and rejected but “the Senate should rather ensure his committal to investigation and prosecution so he can rightly defend himself and clear his name to avoid this impending betrayal of trust against the people of Rivers State.”
The Omereji Commission’s Report and Rivers’ White Paper
Eventually, the matter became worse for Amaechi as the Justice George Omereji’s Judicial Commission of Inquiry submitted its report which allegedly indicted Amaechi and consequently, Rivers State Government issued a white paper on his indictment. The white paper issued on October 8 was quickly dispatched to the Senate as well as the Presidential Villa with a view to constituting a greater hurdle against Amaechi’s screening.
The white paper contained a volume of indictments but prominent among them included the alleged illegal lodgement of $1,000,000 state’s money in an authorised account.
The document which said the amount was a proceed of the concession of Olympia Hotel, an asset of Rivers State Government to Centropsaroten Hotel Management Limited for a period of 40 years, added that the transaction was done in violation of best global practices. It therefore recommended Amaechi’s prosecution along with those found culpable in the act.
The white paper also accepted the recommendation of the commission for the recovery of $53.9 billion said to have been withdrawn by Amaechi from Rivers State Reserve Fund after he made the Rivers State House of Assembly to amend Section 4 of the Rivers State Reserve Fund Law of 2008 which prohibits withdrawal from the fund.
According to the document, having succeeded in amending the section prohibiting
The meeting which was attended by 30 senators brought the two warring camps in APC caucus together with the intention to foil the vehement move by their counterparts in PDP to stop Amaechi’s screening. At the end of the meeting, both groups which had co-existed like cat and dog since June 9 when Saraki emerged as Senate president against the wishes of their party unanimously resolved to back Amaechi
withdrawal through the House of Assembly on February 13, 2014, Amaechi withdrew N53.9 billion from the reserve fund between February 2014 and January 2015, leaving a paltry balance of N1.2 billion from the hitherto N55 billion in the reserve.
“Based on the Rivers State Reserve Fund (Amendment) Law N0. 1 of 2014, the administration of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi withdrew the sum of N53,936,000,000.00 between February 2014 and January 2015, leaving a balance of N 1,276,389,208.70... The last attempt made by by the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration to withdraw the sum of N1 billion was frustrated by FBN Trustees which insisted that the request and resolution of the Rivers House of Assembly did not comply with the law,” the document alleged. It therefore recommended that the former governor be held accountable for the money and legal steps taken against him.
The document also added that Amaechi’s Secretary to the State Government should be made to refund N4 billion which he allegedly and unlawfully withdrew from Rivers State Reserve Fund on February 20, 2014.
The white paper also approved a recommendation by the commission that Amaechi should be made to account for N4.6 billion that he paid to Clinotech Diagnostic and Pharmaceutical Incorporated under public private public partnership through a special purpose vehicle called Clinoriv Specialist Hospital and Leisure Limited.
The document alleged that Amaechi “arbitrarily fixed the cost of execution of the Justice Karibi-Whyte Specialist Hospital” and paid $39,000, representing 40 per cent equity to the special purpose vehicle through the First Bank of Nigeria cheque issued on May 26, 2008.
The document which also said Amaechi appointed and paid Arcus Gibbs Limited as management consultant for the construction of monorail project the sum of N696.3 million in violation of the principle of due process, recommended that the former governor and others who were privy to the appointment should be held accountable for the recovery of the fund.
The Rivers State Government’s White Paper in acknowledgement of the commission’s recommendation also directed the Office of the Honour able Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state to recover $63.456 million said to be outstanding balance on the purchase price of $302 .960 million from the sale of 70 per cent equity of the First Independent Power Limited to NG Power-HPS Limited and another $53.95 million said to be monies transferred from Rivers State Government domiciliary account from the Access Bank to Sahara Energy Resources Limited as a purported repayment of a non-existing loan.
“Accordingly, the government directs the Office of the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to utilize the appropriate machinery for the recovery of these sums of money from NG Power-HPS Limited, Sahara Energy Resources Limited as a purported repayment of a non-existing loan,” the document added.
Finally, the document alleged that the administration of Amaechi unlawfully paid over N3 billion as grants to spurious 380 co-operatives societies, 342 of which it said were hurriedly registered adding that 38 of them were not registered at all. It recommended that Amaechi be held responsible for the development.
APC and PDP Caucuses’ Battle for Amaechi’s Soul
On Monday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the Senate comprising both the Senate Unity Forum and Senators of Like Minds met in the National Assembly at 7.40 pm to reach a common consensus on the screening of Amaechi which had been put off two times the previous week due to intrigues surrounding his nomination.
The meeting which was attended by 30 senators brought the two warring camps in APC caucus together with the intention to foil the vehement move by their counterparts in PDP to stop Amaechi’s screening. At the end of the meeting, both groups which had co-existed like cat and dog since June 9 when Saraki emerged as Senate president against the wishes of their party unanimously resolved to back Amaechi.
Asource told THISDAY after the meeting: “We are determined not to allow the PDP stop the confirmation of Amaechi. We are determined to ensure that he is confirmed because there is no reason that he should not be confirmed. Ameachi contributed a lot to the evolution of APC.
“He suffered a lot in the hands of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Wike wants to continue and we will not allow it. Given the way people have been mounting pressure on us, the public is in support of Amaechi even outside the country, people are in support of him. We are united over this matter in APC caucus. We are members of the same party. When it comes to fighting a common enemy, we are always united.”
The following day, the PDP caucus held its own meeting. Expectedly, PDP senators rejected any move to screen Amaechi. Instead, they resolved to support the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which had recommended the sus- pension of Amaechi’s screening in accordance with Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Rules which prohibits the consideration of any matter that is before a law court. The committee presided over by Senator Sam Anyanwu had reported that Amaechi’s screening should not be considered since the petition against him was already sub-judice.
D-Day and Intrigues of Screening Process
Eventually, Amaechi was ushered into the Senate chamber after initial three times of botched screening process at about 11.30 am last Thursday. He was accompanied by the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; Senators Ita Enang, Olorunnimbe Mamora, Victor Ndoma-Egba, Domingo Obende, Hon. Dakuku Peterside, among others.
Before the commencement of the screening process, the Senate had dissolved into a closeddoor session where it had sought to secure a consensus on Amaechi’s screening with a view to making it rancour-free. The screening of Amaechi had threatened the rapproachment of Saraki’s camp and PDP senators as both the APC and PDP caucuses had been polarised along party fault lines with APC senators insisting on his screening without any hindrance while PDP senators canvassed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges which had recommended the suspension of Amaechi’s screening in view of the suit in court over his alleged corrupt acts.
Following their inability to reach a consensus at the closed-door meeting, Saraki deployed the influence of his office to out-wit PDP senators which had left the closed-door session with the hope that the report of the ethics committee would be considered and the recommendation adopted.
But Saraki who had had running battles with his party since June 9, culminating in his trial for alleged false declaration of assets in 2003, would rather prefer not to go with his PDP colleagues who had stood by him in his trials than to hurt his party in the presence of its chairman by watching the screening of Amaechi aborted. Hence, he only asked the committee chairman, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, to lay the report without allowing him to read it or open the floor for its debate.
Thereafter, he asked Amaechi to address the Senate on any issue he wished to speak about. He was still speaking, when he was interrupted by the Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who cited Order 43 of the Senate Standing Rules which gives senators the opportunity to make a personal explanation provided it is not controversial.
Akpabio then announced the boycott of Amaechi’s screening process by PDP senators as he hinged the decision on the senate president’s decision to disallow the consideration of the report of the ethics’ committee on Amaechi.
“PDP caucus will not ask the nominee any question. The report of the fraud against him, we have not debated that report. We ‘ll have nothing to do with this screening. Is that the wish of this caucus?” he asked, as his colleagues chorused “yes.”
The following day, the PDP caucus held its own meeting. Expectedly, PDP senators rejected any move to screen Amaechi. Instead, they resolved to support the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which had recommended the suspension of Amaechi’s screening in accordance with Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Rules which prohibits the consideration of any matter that is before a law court. The committee presided over by Senator Sam Anyanwu had reported that Amaechi’s screening should not be considered since the petition against him was already sub-judice
Although Amaechi has scaled the major hurdle, there is still the last and final one to cross. He is still a ministerial nominee and not yet a minister-designate until he is confirmed by Senate’s simple majority through a voice vote this week. Already, the aggrieved PDP senators have vowed to oppose his confirmation. But what difference can this threat make especially with APC’s slim majority of 59 to PDP’s 49?
But the Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, swiftly reacted to the protest of Akpabio, saying the report had only been laid according to procedure. He also argued that it would be APC senators’ pleasure if their PDP counterparts withdrew their participation from the screening. He added that since Amaechi had been a house of assembly speaker, he could just be asked to bow and go.
He said: “The report has been laid according to the procedure. This is a confirmation hearing. We are glad you said you would not ask the nominee a question. We can as well ask the former speaker to take a bow and go. My responsibility is to market him here. You people...”
The expression, “you people,” annoyed PDP senators who kicked, “who are you people? You have to withdraw that language.” But the prompt intervention of the senate president saved the day as he asked Ndume to take his seat while he apologised on his behalf and thereafter proceeded to the screening exercise but the PDP senators kept their words as they remained indifferent to Amaechi’s screening from the beginning to the end. Most of them later walked out of the chamber and returned to participate in the screening of other nominees.
PDP senators later alleged betrayal by their APC counterparts whom they said had thought would uphold the decision that the recommendation of the ethics’ committee on Amaechi’s screening would be adopted.
The Screening Proper
With PDP senators boycotting the screening process without walking out of the chamber, Amaechi had a field day as he exploited the opportunity of APC’s protection to rekindle his habitual attacks on the personality of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Amaechi said he joined the move to oust Jonathan because of the massive corruption in his government, alleging that the former president was not fit to rule the country.
“We sold to the public the fact that there was massive corruption in the system. And there was the need to fight that corruption. And the only way to fight that corruption was to put a new government in place. And we had to get a signpost candidate. The signpost candidate is a man who the Nigerian public has seen as an incorruptible president. And that was why the party had to put President Buhari forward. And we thought that there was a need to do things differently.
“I think that as good as the former president might have been, I don’t think he was suitable enough for the growth and development of Nigeria. So, we needed to offer the opportunity to somebody we believe is better than the former president,” he said.
The Shocker
Amaechi shocked many who watched the plenary when he portrayed himself as a saint and purist who hated corruption with passion and never took bribe all his life. He however, did not say he never gave bribe. He only said he never took one. While asked to describe corruption, Amaechi said doing so was a difficult task particularly because he had never taken any bribe.
Hear him: “Corruption is very difficult to define. If you are a public officer and you don’t take bribe... I’ve never taken bribe in my life but if they send a girl to you and you sleep with the girl and do her a favour, you are corrupt. Corruption is a very wide concept. If people are contesting for a position and you offer your son, brother or sister an opportunity to hold that position, probably the person is not qualified, you are corrupt. So, it is difficult for me to define corruption.
“I was born to test my rights and fight for my rights. I was once a student union leader and believe me, if there is one man who does not like corruption, I do not like corruption.
“I came here with a copy of the so-called panel report. There is nowhere the panel indicted me. I am ready to tender this report before the Senate. I’m ready for questions on it and I brought the panel report so the Senate can juxtapose it with the white paper.
“However, because there are challenges, people in Nigerian politics believe that there is the need to compromise and be able to manage yourself around; I will do that but where it clashes with my principles I find it a bit difficult to do what people expect me to do. So, if you ask me to advise upcoming politicians, I will find it difficult because most politicians will like to survive but I don’t toe that line.”
Amaechi recalled the story of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) when he was its chairman, saying he was pressured not to seek a second term but he disagreed because he believed that he had the reason to exercise his right. He said the NGF fought Jonathan because his government was using the federation’s money to fund subsidy.
He thereafter proceeded to state how the economy could be diversified as well as measures to be put in place to address the menace of unemployment.
“I don’t know what I will say that will annoy my political opponent on the side of the PDP. In the spirit of peace, I will like to answer questions that are very peaceful. The governors’ forum acted as a check to executive recklessness; we checked the excesses including the expenditure of the oil subsidy. There is a case in court up till now stopping the federal government from drawing money from the federation account to fund oil subsidy because we believe that if we stop the federal government from spending states and local government money, the federal government will not be able to bear the cost and we therefore wanted to remove oil subsidy because of the level of corruption.
The Case is yet to be heard.
“The radical posture of the government’s forum led to the former president asking me that I had turned the forum into a union and all we were doing was to defend the rights of the people of Nigeria. I think the former president didn’t like it and when my tenure expired as the chairman of the forum, I was requested not to run for a second term and I felt that as a Nigerian, I reserved the responsibility to exercise my rights. So, I put myself forward and if you saw the forces against me, you will think that I will lose. The rest is history but the reason why that happened was because of my radical posture,” he said.
On employment and diversification of the economy, he said: “When you deal with the issue of massive unemployment, you deal with the change in the economic mantra. The mono-economic situation that we have cannot survive. Nigeria cannot continue to be what we are if we continue to rely on oil. For me, I agree with the president that there is the need to invest in agriculture. When we went to Germany, there was no natural resources that we met. If we invest in agriculture and technology, you will hire as many workers as possible.
“In the course of campaign, I discovered that in Borno, we saw water melon that grew naturally. If you plant just 100,000 hectares of water melon in Borno, you can be sure to engage more than 30,000 workers. If you do a similar thing around Kano and other parts (of Nigeria), look at what crops can be instituted in which area and you encourage farmers with funding because the problem is the fund from the banks and the interest rate. So, government must invest in that regard.
“We must diversify the economy. Mining is another area that God has blessed us. And we also need to invest in education because some of these people are unemployable. We need to invest hugely in education. We did that in Rivers State. For four, five, six years, our budget was highest in education in Rivers State. So, if this happens, we will employ quite a number of workers.
“Secondly, we must improve on the social rights of the people. If you improve on the social rights of the people there will be peace. If you have peace, there will be investors. You must have power. If you don’t have power there will be no industrialisation. If we don’t improve on power supply, we don’t need rocket science in solving the problem of power supply.
“We should just look at what the problems are, remove corruption and invest in power. The reason why most people don’t invest in Nigeria is that the cost of production by far outweighs the benefits you will make from your business. So, I usually say that a Nigerian is a government of his own. He hires his own security, digs his own borehole, hires his own generator, so what is government providing?”
After being asked to bow and go, Amaechi walked into the waiting hands of his supporters at the lobby of the National Assembly and forthwith, celebration began.
One More Hurdle to Cross?
Although Amaechi has scaled the major hurdle, there is still the last and final one to cross. He is still a ministerial nominee and not yet a minister-designate until he is confirmed by Senate’s simple majority through a voice vote this week. Already, the aggrieved PDP senators have vowed to oppose his confirmation. But what difference can this threat make especially with APC’s slim majority of 59 to PDP’s 49?
Other Screenings
During his screenings, Professor Omoleye Daramola (Ondo), said prevalent loss of values in the nation’s universities today is nothing but a spillover effect of the general loss of values in the society. He also advocated the need to return Nigerian education to the former level where inspectors were deployed to monitor the operations of the school system. Daramola also harped on the need to re-introduce some subjects such as history into the school curriculum.
“What we have in the universities today is a spillover from the society. Anything happening in the society will replicate itself in the universities. When the values in the society are at variance with what exists in the schools, the child will be disorganised. That is why we need the co-operation of the parents...
“We need supervision in our schools. One of the challenges facing our institutions is lack of supervision. If we put measures in place to supervise the schools, education will improve one way or the other. We have to be careful the way the schools are organised. In the 50s and 60s, teachers were taught to be catechists, interpreters and clerks. But today, because our curriculum is dynamic, it also affects our educational system. Teachers are not paid four months, nine months, one year salaries and we expect them to give their best. We need to train and retrain teachers and pay them regularly.
“Those days, we had civic and history. Only recently, civic has been reintroduced in schools. History needs to be reintroduced. Those days, we were taught about Mary Slessor. History needs to be brought back to schools. Our children need to know the history of our heroes and heroines,” Daramola said.
Also screened on Thursday was James Ocholi SAN (Kogi) who advocated the need for reforms in the prison system as well as the overhaul of the criminal justice system. According to him, investigation of crimes needs to be priced above crime prosecution if the desire for effective prosecution of criminals will be achieved.
“There is the need to bring about reformation in the prisons. Prisons need to be improved upon. Investigation of crimes need to be thoroughly pursued. Investigation should take time. It’s more costly than prosecution because you can travel far during investigation.
“After investigation, the next stage is the arrest of the accused person. Then, you can confront him with the result of the investigation. He will know that you have the facts about him. Prosecution should not take delight in bail. Putting indigent persons in prison creates problems for the accused. They can’t go to school. Major parts of their lives are wasted. When they are coming out of prison 14, 15 years later, they have to start all over again,” Ocholi submitted.
In the same vein, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa) and Hon. Mustapha Shehuri (Borno) were screened after briefly introducing themselves and asked one question each by the Senate president. Being a one time senator and former House of Representatives’ member respectively, they were asked to bow and go. The screening continues on Tuesday.