Integrity Group Recants, Exonerates Amaechi from Corruption Charges, as CLO dissociates self from Wechie

Integrity Group Recants, Exonerates Amaechi from Corruption Charges

·PDP Calls for Prosecution of Wechie for Perjury

·CLO dissociates self from Wechie

A major political storm may be gathering in Rivers State again as the Integrity Group which had earlier pressed for the prosecution of former Governor of the state and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, for corruption has recanted, saying the former governor was framed by Governor Nyesom Wike.

While the All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed the development as a vindication of Amaechi, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the Executive Director of Integrity Group, Livingstone Wechie, a turn-coat, and called on the Senate to summon and prosecute him for perjury.

This is as the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) dissociated itself from Wechie who also claimed membership of the CLO.

Wechie had, in a live programme, ‘Focus Nigeria’ on African Independent Television (AIT) monitored in Port Harcourt today, accused Wike and the state government of fabricating documents with which it had discredited Amaechi with corruption.

He said documents presented by the state government to the Justice Georege Omereji judicial commission of inquiry that indicted Amaechi of corruption were forged.

Also, in a statement issued today on behalf of the Integrity Group, Wechie said the group had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in 2015 “demanding the investigation and prosecution of Amaechi over a then falsely believed conversion of state monies/proceeds of the purported sales of state assets, including Power Plants, a certain Karibi Whyte Hospital and diversion of some monies from the state Internal Revenue Service etc.”

Wechie said: “Same petition was addressed to the Senate president which was laid on the floor onAugust 8, 2015, and I in my capacity as the Executive Director of the Integrity Group, appeared upon invitation before the Senate Committee on Public Petitions, Ethics and Privileges on October 12, 2015.”

He stated that he had believed the documents then to be true but has now realised that they were forged to indict Amaechi.

“In the coming days, we shall unleash all the grand criminal violations which Wike has visited on our state so that stakeholders can take stock and decide on the urgent steps needed to salvage our beloved state.

“Finally, we call on the public and all relevant institutions to disregard all documents tendered by our organisation indicting Amaechi, including particularly the so-called Omereji Report and the subsequent white paper by the state government as all documents tendered were all politically fabricated by the Wike government to achieve his unrighteous end,” Wechie stated.

The state chapter of the APC has reacted by saying Amaechi has been vindicated by Wechie’s testimony.

The state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chris Finebone, said: “It is always our position in the state APC that every lie has an expiry date. Today, all the lies perpetrated against Amaechi by Nyesom Wike and the PDP have expired with ignominy.

“No better vessel would have conveyed the message of shame than Livingstone Wechie himself having been the arrowhead of Wike and PDP on their self-appointed mission to destroy the impeccable image of Amaechi.”

Meanwhile, CLO, which Wechie claimed to also represent during the live interview, has dissociated itself from him, and urged security agencies to investigate the activist.

A statement issued by the South-south Zonal Chairman of the CLO, Uchegbu Karl Chinedu, said Wechie was not speaking for the organisation.

The statement said: “We take exception to the claims by Wechie that he was the face of the CLO in the Southsouth. This claim is just a figment of his imagination, as he was merely appointed a Deputy Director on Publicity as a result of his closeness to the mass media (special assistant to the zonal chair), a position from which he has long since been removed.

“The face of CLO in the Southsouth zone, as in other zones, remains the Zonal Chairman, while the Zonal Director or Zonal Administrative Secretary (ZAS) takes charge of the administration of the zonal office.

“Wechie admitted in his live appearance on TV that he told lies on behalf of his Integrity Group and not on behalf of CLO. “We therefore urge the relevant agencies to further investigate these lies and do the needful. It is important to state that we stand on the actions and interventions we made in the past as they were made in the interest of the public and the suffering masses.

“CLO has remained resolute in its campaign for enthroning good governance, protecting democracy and human rights. All our interventions have fallen under these mandates and we do not owe apologies to anyone. CLO views the antics of Wechie and his paymasters as infantile and shocking.”

The state chapter of the PDP has also called on the Senate to summon and prosecute Wechie for the “lies”.

The state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, told journalists in Port Harcourt that “I want to state clearly from what we have seen today, men who lack integrity and character ought not to be taken seriously. This same Wechie swore to an oath in 2015 before Senator Anya that he was not sponsored by anybody. That anything he had said was based on his investigation.

“What happened today showed that when a man is hungry, he can eat from the gutters. One of the issues he raised was the Karibe Whyte Hospital. Is it that there was no Clinotech that came in the name of building 1,000-bed hospital and nothing was built? The question we are asking is that did Clinotech not rip off the state in the contract?

“All he said today was aimed at laundering the image of Amaechi.

“I am calling on the Senate to know that the document he presented to them belongs to him. With the current development, it showed that he lied on oath and the Senate should summon him. If he is being compelled to do what he had just done, then he should be used as an example because he thinks that Nigerians can be taken for a ride.”