How I Rejected N1bn Bribe From A Contractor – Rotimi Amaechi
*Says He Is Not Governed By Money-
The Minister of Transportation, Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has revealed how he rejected N1bn bribe from a contractor while he was governor of Rivers State.
He made the revelation while speaking at the first annual lecture organised by CKN news with the theme, “The Role Of The Social Media In Socio-Economic And Political Development Of Nigeria,” which held in Lagos.
“My first confrontation with bribe was with a big contractor in Rivers State,” he said.
“After awarding the contract, he brought a billion naira. I screamed.
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“I asked, ‘where did you get the money?’ and he said from what he got (from the contract) and I said ‘look, that means you overquoted the contract’.
“I said ‘the only reason you are giving me N1 billion was because if the contract was N32 billion, you made it N37 billion’.
“I have been special assistant to the governor for two years; speaker, eight years; governor, eight years; minister nearly two years…that’s nearly twenty years.
“So I know Nigerian politics well. Very, very well,” he added.
On social media in Nigeria’s political and socio-economic development, Amaechi said the social media is capable of destroying the country.
He lamented that the social media has been abused as politicians engage it to tarnish the image of their counterparts.
“When it was published that I own a property worth N50 million, I just waved it aside that the news won’t go anywhere until it became serious.
“As a governor, if you don’t want crime to continue, the best thing is to create wealth. The feedback the social media platform provides helps to check the efficiency of the government, and in the bid to create employment, politicians have made use of the platform to reach out to prospective candidates.
“Social media can destroy this country, true or false? Just look at Biafra; and that’s why Nnamdi Kanu can say all he is saying and still get a forum.
“Most politicians pay young men to post all sorts on social media.” he said.
“I was governor for eight years, for about seven years people used to say ‘this man is arrogant’, how did they suddenly say this man is corrupt?,” he said. “PDP used to say ‘Amaechi is our response to Fashola’.
“So when did they suddenly say ‘Oh, he didn’t do anything. And I say to people, because somebody just went to pay money and, on social media too, there’s no rule.
“The first time they attacked us we came out with document. But they (social media users) don’t verify.
On the $43 million Ikoyi fund recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Amaechi said people claiming that he owned the money were peddlers of false information.
“When they said that I owned $43 million Ikoyi money… I made just a one-page reply: ‘I don’t even own a house in Lagos’.
“I thought people would have said, ‘Ah, eight years as governor, he should be a very rich thief, so he should be able to get a property in Lagos and use it as a form of investment’. Nobody!
“Many people started celebrating, ‘It’s Amaechi’s money, it’s Amaechi’s money’.
“But people who know me know (that) if I have money, you will know. When people meet me and I am not able to spend, it is just basically because I don’t have money… The important thing is, money doesn’t govern me. But social media twist it the other way; so the problem with social media (users) is that they misinform…they don’t verify their information, they have no rules. Only decent ones.
“Nigerians say I am stubborn, am I stubborn?” he asked. His question generated echoes of “Yes!” from the audience. “Stop there,” he continued, “Let me tell you why you are wrong: once you are a principled man, then you are stubborn.
“Nigeria doesn’t have any word called principle. It just shows that we need to go back to our value system, so that we can put a place where we can add principle…where they can give you money and you look at the man and tell the man, ‘keep the money’.
