Amaechi has said his administration would not probe past governments in the state, including that of his immediate predecessor, Sir Celestine Omehia. The governor disclosed this in an interview at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, shortly on arrival Friday night.
Amaechi, who also said he was not confronted with empty treasury on assumption of office, added that there were no pointers to the fact that financial crimes were committed by previous governments in the state and would, therefore, not worry himself about any probe. �There are no plans to probe past governments in the state. I�m not aware of any crime to be probed,� he said.
The governor, who declined to state how much he met in the state�s coffers on assumption of office, said he had not experienced any problem of liquidity that most other governors complained about when they assumed office. On comments made by some lawyers that the Supreme Court ought not to have asked him (Amaechi) to assume office as the governor of Rivers State by virtue of its ruling, Amaechi said they were missing the point.
He said since he was the person that the People�s Democratic Party (PDP) chose to represent it in the gubernatorial elections in the state, the Supreme Court was right in its ruling. He said documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the PDP after the gubernatorial primaries in the state reflected the issue at stake quite clearly.
On the agenda of his government, the governor said his administration would focus on poverty alleviation in order to ameliorate the sufferings of people of the state. He said poverty and youth restiveness in the state would reduce, if not completely eradicated, and solicited the co-operation of the people of Rivers State in the task of developing the state.
Nov42007