Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has asked the consensus candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Arch Tonye Cole to account for $50million his Sahara Energy Company allegedly received from the Rivers State Government when Chibuke Rotimi Amaechi was governor.
Governor Wike who made the declaration at a thanksgiving service to celebrate the legal victory secured at the Supreme Court in the oil well dispute between Rivers and Imo State, also railed at Farah Dagogo, an aspirant for governorship under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Alluding to Farah Dagogo, Wike expressed regret that supposed criminals who raped women, kidnapped people and perpetrated several crimes were allowed to live above the law with the lifestyle that they are lords who cannot suffer any consequences for their actions.
Governor Wike said Farah would have lived within the bounds of the amnesty offered by the Federal Government instead of returning to acts that threatened the peaceful conduct of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) screening exercise.
He explained that as Chief Security Officer of the state, he directed the police to arrest Dagogo because he had mobilized cultists to disrupt the screening of federal and state legislative aspirants, disclosing that some of the cultists were arrested and have been arraigned in court.
“You (Farah) are not running for National Assembly, you are not running for State Assembly. You went and brought cultists to the party secretariat, to destroy the party secretariat and as a governor, as a leader of the party I should fold my hands and see a criminal, an illiterate overrun my state.”
The media team of Farah Dagogo has denied these allegations.
Expatiating on Tonye Cole, Governor Wike said he was not against anybody aspiring to be governor, but in the case of Mr. Cole, he must first give account for the money he received from Amaechi’s administration.
“He (Cole) must account for the $50million they took from our account. $50million was taken from Rivers State Access Bank Account and transferred to Sahara Energy account. And I asked them what is the job you people did for Rivers State? Can I see the contract papers, did you people loan us money?”
The Rivers State Chief Executive said it would be immoral to allow a former governor to bring his business partner to become governor of the state when they had both sold and bought assets of the state including gas turbines.
Governor Wike equally came down very hard on the former Director-General of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside for threatening fire and brimstone over the arrest and arraignment of Farah Dagogo in court.
