Governor Nyesom Wike challenged his predecessor and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday to account for the proceeds of the Dash 8 Propeller aircraft sold to Cross River State, as part of his demand for accountability on Rivers State assets sold under the previous administration.
Wike claimed, while briefing political stakeholders at Government House in Port Harcourt on the state of Rivers assets, that Amaechi sold the Dash 8, one of the state aircraft acquired under Dr. Peter Odili’s administration, to Cross River State for $6 million with only an N100 million deposit made by the buyer.
According to Wike, the last time anyone heard about the Dash 8 plane was when Amaechi told the then-State Executive Council that he would not sell it to Chief Victor Odili, who had offered to buy it for $5 million.
ATTENTION: Click “HERE” to join our WhatsApp group and receive News updates directly on your WhatsApp!
“Chief Victor Odili offered to buy Dash 8 for $5 million,” he said. Amaechi told the Executive Council that he had a better offer of $6 million from Cross River State. N100 million of that $6 million was paid as a deposit.
“Asset that should be documented and handed over to the new administration.”
He also recalled that while Amaechi was governor, he wrote a letter to the State House of Assembly in July 2011 requesting permission to trade in the abandoned Legacy 600 aircraft in Germany for the Bombardier Global Express, adding that Amaechi purchased the latter but never traded the Legacy 600.
“The entire reason they took the plane to Germany was that the former governor believed he would install a governor in 2015.” “If Dakuku Peterside had become governor, the plane would have crashed,” Wike said.
