Monumental Corruption Scandal: How Rotimi Amaechi used wife to siphon billions from Rivers State's treasury

Monumental Corruption Scandal: How Rotimi Amaechi used wife to siphon billions from Rivers States treasury

Judith Amaechi, the shrewish wife of Rotimi Amaechi, the immediate past governor of Rivers State has been indicted in a multi-billion naira corruption scandal, Nigerian Times can reveal.

As President Muhammadu Buhari heads to Washington to beg the Americans to help out with his much vaunted anti-corruption war, insiders are cringing at the composition of his delegation. Rotimi Amaechi was personally selected by the president. Nigerian Times’ checks at the villa showed that the president may not be aware of the existence of the dossier but the Americans know and may not take Buhari’s anti-corruption paean seriously.

Nigerian Times learnt in the weekend that the dossier itself is less than sixty days old. As the story goes, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had received a petition sometime in February this year. The petition detailed the various financial dealings of Mrs Amaechi and how aided by her husband, she had looted the Rivers State treasury of billions of naira.

EFCC’s Findings

Her dealings are centered on three bank accounts with a Port Harcourt branch of First Bank. The accounts in the name of Rajol Jireh Nig. Ltd, El-Madon Fellowship, and Empowerment Support Initiative. The first is her company; she is the biggest shareholder and sole-signatory to its accounts with her photo id. El- Madon Fellowship, is a prayer group she started when her husband was on the run for his life as he lost the gubernatorial ticket in the run up to the 2007 general elections. As soon as the Supreme Court installed her husband in office, she moved the prayer group to the state house and got it registered and emerged its sole signatory with photograph submitted to the bank. The last is her pet project as first lady.

The EFCC’s investigation found the transactions on the following accounts mind-boggling. Some of the accounts are denominated in Naira, while others are in Dollars. But one common factor of all the accounts is that they contain huge sums, which were only accessible to the former first lady of Rivers State.

The Accounts Include:

ESI – 4344020003193, a fixed deposit account

El-Madon Fellowship -4344020002981, another fixed deposit account,

Rajol Jireh Nig Ltd- 43440200031162, the main account

Rajol Jireh NIG ltd 2010701975 Naira; 4344030000125, a dollar fixed deposit account, and 2024239051 Naira fixed deposit account

Staffers of First Bank are not allowed to view these accounts, as they are passworded. The EFCC found that over eight billion naira passed through these accounts since they were opened in late 2008.

Some of the looted funds are invested in properties in Nigeria.

Monumental Corruption Scandal: How Rotimi Amaechi used wife to siphon billions from Rivers States treasury

Nigerian Times learnt from a government house source familiar with the transactions that Mrs Amaechi’s method of transferring money abroad was akin to a bonanza. The bankers are encouraged to look for anyone with about a million dollars. He or she is then made a proposition: wire a million dollars to an account abroad and the naira equivalent plus an irresistible bonus is negotiated. So once the money hits the agreed account abroad, the naira equivalent and the agreed bonus leaves any of the First Bank accounts to another commercial bank in Port Harcourt, then it hits the accomplice’s account.

A source told of an unforgettable week back in 2009 when five staff of the bank were pulled off their desks to sort cash for Mrs Amaechi. It wasn’t as thought they were counting but were just pilling the bundles and they never got to the bottom of the cash until Sunday afternoon. They started out on Thursday.

Nigeria Times