Judith Amaechi, wife of former minister of transportation Rotimi Amaechi, has dismissed the allegations levelled against her by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
TheNewsGuru reports that the former Rivers governor during a recent interview alleged that Amaechi’s wife’s NGO, the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI), received a N48 billion contract from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to train women in the Niger Delta.
The FCT minister further urged President Bola Tinubu to release the forensic audit of the NDDC to expose what he called financial irregularities during Mr Amaechi’s time in office.
Reacting to the allegations, Mrs Amaechi in a statement released by her spokesperson, Dike Bekwele, on Tuesday dared Wike to provide proof of his claims, which she believes are politically motivated.
“There is absolutely no iota of veracity in the allegation made by Mr Wike against Mrs Amaechi and the Empowerment Support Initiative,” the statement said.
Mrs Amaechi, who also described the claim as ‘baseless’, asserted that neither she nor her organisation ever received such amounts from the NDDC.
“The Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI), incorporated in 2011 as a non-governmental organisation, secured partnerships with development partners, including the NDDC, to execute joint human capacity programmes,” the statement explained.
“These included supporting nano, micro, small, and medium-scale entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial training for women and youth in the Niger Delta.”
According to Mrs Amaechi, all collaborations between ESI and the NDDC were transparently executed and open to scrutiny, contrary to Wike’s insinuations.
She also dismissed as absurd Wike’s reference to the NDDC forensic audit, which has not been released publicly to allege her involvement in financial impropriety.
“It is both absurd, baseless, and a mere figment of Mr Wike’s imagination. The allegation of an indictment of Mrs Amaechi and the ESI is only a subtle blackmail to score cheap political goals,” the statement said.