Judith Amaechi has dismissed as “baseless” the allegation by the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, that she received a N48 billion contract from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to train Niger Delta women.

Mrs Amaechi is the wife of the former minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

The former first lady of Rivers made the rebuttal in a statement from her spokesperson, Dike Bekwele, on Tuesday.

The allegations

Mr Amaechi, who served as a minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari, had aspired to succeed the former president but lost at the primary to the incumbent President Bola Tinubu.

He has remained a vocal critic of President Tinubu’s administration.

The former Rivers governor is among the leaders of the opposition coalition that adopted the African Democratic Congress as a political platform to challenge Mr Tinubu re-election bid in 2027.

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About two weeks ago, Mr Amaechi appeared in an interview on Channels TV to discuss national politics, where the programme anchor questioned his source of wealth.

Mr Amaechi, in his response, credited his wealth to his wife, Judith. He said his wealth was not questionable, and that he does not own the kind of cars, houses, and lands that Mr Wike has.

Mr Wike succeeded Mr Amaechi as governor of the oil-rich Rivers in 2015. Both have been political rivals since 2014.

“My wife is almost an industrialist; she is the backbone of our family. She is from Anambra State. She is known for buying and selling even in the Government house, so don’t ask me how I got my wealth,” Mr Amaechi responded.

Wike’s reaction

Then-minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, conducted a forensic audit of the NDDC and presented the report to President Buhari in 2021, where he stated that over 13,000 projects were abandoned in the region since the creation of the interventionist agency.

“Although the exercise had a chequered history, I thank Mr President and all those who supported and ensured its success,” Mr Akpabio had said, emphasising that the exercise was not done to witch-hunt anyone but to ensure that the huge funds committed to the area yearly were justified.

However, the audit report is yet to be made public, forcing Nigerians to question the reason it was undertaken.

About 48 hours after Mr Amaechi’s interview, the FCT minister appeared on Channels and dismissed Mr Amaechi’s claims that his wife was an industrialist. Mr Wike alleged that Mr Amaechi’s wife got billions of naira in contracts from the NDDC through her organisation, Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI).

“First of all, Amaechi’s wife was not an industrialist and has never been. The best I know, and that is why I call on President Tinubu to release the forensic audit of NDDC. Through Mr Amaechi’s wife’s company, every month, N4 billion to train Niger Delta women. One year, N48 billion,” Mr Wike alleged.

Asked if he was privy to the document, Mr Wike urged President Tinubu to help Nigerians and release the audit report.

“N4 billion a month to train Niger Delta women,” he shouted, when asked if it was a crime to get a government contract.

“I have said the president should do us a favour to release the document,” he emphasised

When asked if he had evidence to back up his allegation, Mr Wike said a former minister of justice “killed” the audit report to “protect those who are concerned”.

“I am saying let the president release the document. If what I am saying is not in the document, I will resign as FCT minister,” he vowed.

“That is how the wife became an industrialist. N4 billion every month to train Niger Delta Women,” he added.

‘Baseless’ allegation

Mrs Amaechi, in her rebuttal, dismissed the allegation as “baseless” and challenged the FCT minister to provide evidence.

She said Mr Wike wanted to use the allegations to score cheap political points. She urged the public to disregard it.

“There is absolutely no iota of veracity in the allegation made by Mr Wike against Mrs Amaechi and the Empowerment Support Initiative. Mrs Amaechi did not and has never received N4 billion monthly payments from the NDDC,” the statement said.

However, the statement said the Empowerment Support Initiative, incorporated in 2011 as a non-governmental organisation, secured partnerships and collaborations with development partners, including the NDDC.

According to the statement, the Empowerment Support Initiative and the NDDC are reciprocal to jointly funded human capacity programmes and trainings for the teeming youths and women; supporting nano, micro, small, and medium-scale entrepreneurs, and its entrepreneurial development center for youths and women of the Niger Delta Region.

“This partnership has been successfully executed since its commencement to the satisfaction of both ESI and the NDDC, with numerous youths and women within the Niger Delta region benefitting from the scheme for self-reliance and sustainability.

“Quite contrary to the falsehood concocted and diffused by Mr Wike, the counterpart funding between the ESI and the NDDC is in public glare for scrutiny.”

The statement said it was absurd for Mr Wike to allege that the Empowerment Support Initiative and Mrs Amaechi were indicted in the NDDC forensic audit report, which has not been published for the public.

“It is both absurd, baseless, and a mere figment of Mr Wike’s imagination,” the statement said, adding that “the allegation of an indictment of Mrs Amaechi and the ESI is only a subtle blackmail to score cheap political goals.”

When contacted for comments on the matter, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, the corporate affairs director of the NDDC, said she was “not in a position to make any statement in respect to that accusation.”

When contacted, Mr Wike’s spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, queried why Mrs Amaechi was defending herself two weeks after the allegation was made.

Mr Olayinka said the FCT minister pointed fingers at the “authority concerned” to release the audit report, where the minister said the contract is found. He asked journalists to direct questions at the authority, not the minister.

“If he’s privy to the document, the document is not his own but belongs to the authority concerned,” he responded when told that with the weighty allegation, it means the minister was privy to the document.

Mr Olayinka said Mr Wike may have had classified information about the audit report while serving as governor, but has no power to release it to the public.

“Mr Wike cannot release a report he did not authorise its audit. The report is an official document,” he said.