Your predecessor has accused you of a witch-hunt as exemplified in the forceful evacuation of a vehicle belonging to his former commissioner. Why?
You can recollect that after our inauguration we went into Government House and we told the whole world, first of all, that there was no handover note. If there was a handover note that would have guided you to say look this is where we started and this is where we ended; these were the things that were given to people as a kind of parting gift or whatever. We later learnt that the Government House had been looted. There was just nothing. The last government said that I sent people to take those things away so that I would award contracts for the replacement. I said I didn’t need to carry anything away before I award contracts. So the issue of removing those ones so that I will go and award contracts is not correct.
Why we are retrieving vehicles..
Now we got information that most of the Government House vehicles are scattered here and there. First of all we got information that most of these vehicles were kept somewhere at Trans Amadi and we sent security men and we discovered vehicles were parked there.Security men helped us to recover those vehicles; it was all over the news. We also got information that a Lexus bulletproof 570 was parked at the house of a former commissioner. We reported to police that one of the Governments House vehicles was at the house of the former commissioner and it was not the vehicle she was using in her office.As a commissioner she can’t use a bulletproof vehicle, a Lexus for that matter which is not less that N60 – 70 million. So we sent in the security men to go and retrieve the vehicle.
Initially she said on phone that it was given to her as a parting gift and I said no problem but there should be record to show that this was given to you as a parting gift but we didn’t get such records because they didn’t handover anything to anybody.She later said it was her husband that bought the vehicle. We said if it is your husband that bought it we have no problem, you can come with the particulars of the vehicle that your husband bought to prove that the vehicle was your husband’s vehicle.
When I came in here last week I went to Bank of Industry Building and the former Liaison Officer here, not knowing I was around had one of the vehicles we were looking for so we sent the ADC and he retrieved the vehicle and they brought the man and I said ‘Sir why do you have to go away with government vehicles? Is there any paper that says it was given to you’ and he said no and I told him to go and get all the papers and as I speak to you one or two weeks after the papers are yet to be brought here.
They said it was monetization...
It is not correct, there is nothing like monetisation policy there. Let me explain what monetization means. As a minister, no vehicle was bought for me in the ministry.Whatever thing had to be given was built into your salary, even housing. So where did they buy these cars? I worked there so how can anybody say that? The point is very clear. If you didn’t handover anything to me and I am getting information that this is where our vehicles and properties are am I not in the position to see how I can recover those vehicles?
On the former governor saying we were out to witch-hunt. Witch-hunt for what? Is this the first time that official Panel of Enquiry has been set in Rivers state? When he set the panel of enquiry was it also a witch-hunt?
Nobody was there to explain anything to us. If he had worked with the transition committee, his commissioners would have been asked one or two questions but no transition committee was set up by government.
Even police ceremonial vehicle the governor denied us. We had to go to Ondo State to borrow Ondo State ceremonial vehicle. Where in this country will you say that inauguration ceremony wasn’t funded by any state? Government is not a personal thing. As you leave today the other person will also leave tomorrow so there is nothing like witch hunting anybody.
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