Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has been accused of trying to malign and attack his predecessor and erstwhile benefactor, the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi by making false allegations.
The former commissioner for transport under the Rotimi Amaechi administration,TolofAri George said this in reaction to claim by Governor, Nyesom Wike that an aircraft recently located in Germany was abandoned by the Rotimi Amaechi administration without documentation.
Governor Wike also said that he was able to locate the aircraft with help of intelligence.
But the former transport commissioner in a statement noted that the governor claims that his predecessor secretly abandoned the aircraft belonging to the Rivers state government in Germany. is a lie, vindictive and political.
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 went further to say that the plane was still in Germany at the time they handed over to the incoming administration.
He wondered why an administration that claimed that the aircraft had been stolen when they assumed office in 2015, will Today, be saying that the aircraft was secretly abandoned.
He said In 2015 when they made an issue of Rivers state having two aircrafts, and that one has been stolen, I issued a press release which reiterated that the aircraft was in Germany.
He dismissed any report that aircraft was taken to Germany and dumped without proper and formal documentation.