Sanusi's letter to Jonathan: Amaechi ‘s response
The office of the Minister of Transport said their attention
has been drawn to reports in the media that tends to infer and/or suggest that
immediate past governor of Rivers State and now Minister of Transportation, Rt.
Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi surreptitiously and clandestinely ‘leaked’ a
letter written by former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and now Emir of
Kano, Sanusi Muhammad 11 to then President Goodluck Jonathan on the
non-remittance of $49.8 billion from oil sale to the federation account.
It noted that “this is further from the truth and what
exactly transpired as regards Amaechi’s involvement in that Sanusi letter.”
A press statement from the office of the Minister of
Transport reads:
“To put the records straight, we want to categorically state
that: A concerned and patriotic Nigerian who felt sufficiently troubled with
what was happening then, gave a copy of the Sanusi letter to Amaechi in
Amaechi’s capacity as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF). Like
Amaechi, we should appreciate that concerned Nigerian’s patriotism.
“When Amaechi got the letter, he spoke with Sanusi who was
still the CBN governor to confirm the authenticity of the letter. Sanusi
confirmed to Amaechi that he wrote the letter. During their conversation,
Amaechi made it abundantly clear to the then CBN governor that the bleeding of
the nation had to be stopped, all non-remitted funds remitted and that he
(Amaechi) was going to use the letter to do whatever is in the best interest of
the nation and Nigerians, which was the stoppage of the non-remittance and the
recovery of all the non-remitted funds from oil sale. The CBN Governor didn’t
agree with Amaechi on the way forward.
Foramfera
“Considering that the letter was given to Amaechi as
Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, he shared the letter with his colleague
governors first, and with Senator Bukola Saraki (now Senate President), who
before and around that period was doing some work or/and investigation around
the oil sector in the senate.
“Around that period, a delegation from the United States of
America government, from the offices of the Secretaries of State and Defense
visited Amaechi in Port Harcourt to discuss the issue of oil theft in Nigeria.
From their records, they gave Amaechi figures of billions of dollars (about $7
billion dollars, annually) that was being lost to oil theft in Nigeria. They
were discussing the issue and figures of oil theft, and that was how the CBN
governor’s letter to President Jonathan came up.
In the presence of journalists
covering the visit, Amaechi brought out the Sanusi letter to the visiting
American delegation to buttress the point that Nigeria was losing far more
money to non-remittance of proceeds from oil sale into the federation account,
which everyone seemed to concur, was in itself, another form and another
dimension to the issue of oil theft.
“To suggest, infer or even extrapolate that Rt. Hon.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi surreptitiously, clandestinely or underhandedly
‘leaked’ the CBN governor’s (Sanusi’s) letter is indeed most unfair,
disrespectful and uncharitable to his person. Amaechi did what he did because
he believed that the theft and corruption was just too much. He was propelled
by his patriotic zeal to put Nigeria first, do what is in the best interest of
the nation and Nigerians, and stop the bleeding and sucking of our collective
resources by a tiny few.
The mind boggling corruption revelations in the recent
past, that is still ongoing clearly justifies and vindicates Amaechi’s stance on
the issue and the actions he took. Faced with the same situation, under similar
circumstances, Amaechi will not act differently. The good of Nigeria, putting
the nation and Nigerians first, will always be his guiding principle.”
Nwaorgu Faustinus sent this in
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