President Muhammadu Buhari has allegedly
ordered the resignation of the former Governor of Rivers State who is
now the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.
His contemporary, Babatunde Fashola, had
equally been petitioned over mismanagement of Lagos state funds. It
would be recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, was petitioned by the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, a
coalition of anti-corruption organisations in Nigeria, over an alleged
“questionable expenditures” of the administration of Babatunde Fashola.
He allegedly approved before he left office, N78.3 million from the
state’s treasury for an upgrade of his personal website, an allegation
he had since denied.
Also alleged to have been asked to
resign are Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and
Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari over various allegations of
corruption.
A source in the Presidential Villa
disclose that Buhari worried that having these persons in his cabinet
could put so much to question about his personality and frustrate the
present anti-corruption war had advised them to quietly resign.
The source also said the President
reminded them of his earlier warning that if he sacked any of his
appointees, such would be prosecuted.
It would be recalled that there had been
several allegations of corruption flying in and outside the media about
Ameachi. A leading Newspaper in the United Kingdom, UK, ‘The Mail
Daily,’ on Sunday, May 15, 2016 published a report revealing how Rotimi
Amaechi allegedly looted Nigeria’s treasury.
The report claimed that President
Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘fantastically corrupt” friend, spent over $140
million on the president’s 2015 campaign and has been accused of
stealing £500 million.
Also a Judicial Commission of Inquiry in
Rivers State had allegedly indicted the former governor for looting the
treasury of the state, when he served as Governor for eight years.
Amaechi had, however, denied these various allegations.
Relatively, it has been alleged that the
Chief of Staff (CoS), Abba Kyari, took N500m from operators of MTN to
help the telecommunications giant mitigate the fine imposed on it by the
federal government.
The chief of staff was also allegedly
involved in a deal of taking money from Jide Omokore, a shady
businessman who was allegedly involved in corruption in the oil sector
during the preceding administration.
”The president has been waiting patiently for them to resign,’’ The source stressed.
When DAILY POST contacted the Senior
Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, he
simply said in a text message thus; ‘’I am sorry I am in Abuja and I
can’t confirm or deny the report with the president who is now in
London. If you can leave me out of this, I will appreciate.’’
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari
recently suspended the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
SGF, Mr David Babachir Lawal and ordered an investigation into the
allegations of violations of law and due process made against him in the
award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East
(PINE).
The President had equally ordered a
full-scale investigation into the discovery of large amounts of foreign
and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, over
which the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) made a claim, hence
suspending the DG, Ambassador Ayo Oke.
The investigation is also to enquire
into the circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the
funds, how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available
to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of
the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.
Meanwhile, when DAILY POST contacted
Fashola’s Media aide, Bello Hakeem, he listened carefully but hung up.
He rejected all other calls put across to him to get Fashola’s reaction.
Effort to reach Ameachi’s media aides failed as mobile phones were permanently switched off.
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