6th December, 2019
By Okafor Ofiebor
Former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked Governor Nyesom Wike to sum up his accumulated pension arrears and use it to pay pensioners in the state who regularly protest for unpaid pension areas.
This follows the court judgement directing all former governors, their deputies who are currently serving as ministers and senators to refund all pensions collected from their various state.
Amaechi took to his twitter handle to answer critics who had assumed he had been benefiting from the state’s humongous pension laws adjusted to suit the ex-governors and their deputies.
The Minister said “I have never requested for or collected one kobo as pension from Rivers State Government, if offered, I will politely decline and request that the money should be given to rivers state pensioners. I do not believe that I should receive pension as ex-governor of rivers state while serving as a minister.’’
More than 24 hours after the former Governor gave the clarification, there has not been any official reaction from the Rivers State Government either confirming or disputing the claim by the Minister of Transportation.