The Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has denied the allegation by the River State Governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, that he diverted N2 billion meant for building of model schools.
Amaechi had during his meet-the-people tour at Rumuomasi, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state alleged that Wike diverted N2 billion meant for the building of 14 model schools in the local government when he was chief of staff.
Reacting to the allegation when the people of Evo kingdom in Obio/Akpor paid him a solidarity visit in his Port Harcourt home last weekend, Wike said he was never given such amount of money.
He stated that he was not a commissioner for education to merit such contract, adding that "the governor must have mistaken me for his wife and concubines who took away all the jobs.”
Wike said: “Let me say it clearly that he has never given any money to me to build a school. Let him mention those schools and communities.
"Assuming that he gave me 14 schools, am I the commissioner for education? If he gave me the contract and the job was not done, why didn’t he arrest me? If he gave the job and I refused to do it, why did he recommend me to be appointed as a minister?”
He, however, challenged the governor to account for the contract sum of N7.5billion (US$50m) being the contract sum for the construction of 1,000-bed Adolphus Karibi-Whyte specialist hospital to be sited at the Greater Port Harcourt City (GPHC).
He alleged that the US$50m was released to the commissioner for health without due approval and wondered why the hospital has not been built despite demolishing the old one that was in good use already.
“Where is that money and where is the 1,000-bed hospital?” he queried.
He also alleged that under the Amaechi government, a Ghanaian contractor was hired for the landscaping of Port Harcourt city at a cost of about N3 billion, stating that the contractor abandoned the project and fled from the state without the government doing anything.
On the fumigation of Port Harcourt City against mosquito, Wike recalled that another sum of over N3 billion was paid to Cuban contractors but the job was not done, yet the money not recovered. “Are you not seeing mosquito where you live?”, he asked the audience.
Wike promised to release more information at "the appropriate time" as he had a dossier of transactions when he was chief of staff.
On his alleged governorship ambition, Wike said, “Nobody can intimidate me out of the race if I choose to run.
“Very soon, you will hear from me. If I choose to run, for instance, if heaven falls, that will be good for all of us. But nobody can intimidate me out of the race.”
He, however, assured the supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state that whoever wins the party’s primaries, would win the actual election.
“Whoever wins the PDP primaries, be assured that PDP will win the election in the state”, he said.
Earlier in his speech, one of the traditional rulers in the delegation, Eze Simeon Wokoma, called on the minister to heed the call of his people and contest for the position of governor of the state in 2015.
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