How US Department officials told Amaechi of $7bn loot

Details have emerged on how the former governor of Rivers State and now minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in his days of war of attrition with then president, Gooluck Jonathan, decided to leak the letter written to Jonathan by the then Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

The toxic correspondence, which took Nigeria by storm, was on the subject of the non-remittance of $49.8 billion from oil sale to the federation account. In a defence released to the public Thursday, May 5, 2016, the transportation minister said the insinuations were mischievous.

In the statement made available to BDSUNDAY Amaechi stated thus: “A concerned and patriotic Nigerian who felt sufficiently troubled with what was happening then, gave a copy of the Sanusi’s letter to Amaechi in Amaechi’s capacity as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF). Like Amaechi, we should appreciate that concerned Nigerian’s patriotism”.

The statement went on: “When Amaechi got the letter, he spoke with Sanusi who was still the CBN governor to confirm the authenticity of the letter. Sanusi confirmed to Amaechi that he wrote the letter.”

It was claimed that during their conversation, Amaechi made it clear to the then CBN governor that the bleeding of the nation had to be stopped, that all non-remitted funds must be remitted and that he (Amaechi) was going to use the letter to do whatever was in the best interest of the nation and Nigerians. This, to him, included the stoppage of the non-remittance and the recovery of all the non-remitted funds from oil sale. “The CBN Governor didn’t agree with Amaechi on the way forward”, the statement claimed.

The Amaechi team said: “Considering that the letter was given to Amaechi as chairman of the Governors’ Forum, he shared the letter with his colleague governors first, and with Senator Bukola Saraki (now Senate president), who before and around that period was doing some work or/and investigation around the oil sector in the Senate”.

Further: “Around that period, a delegation from the United States of America government, from the offices of the Secretaries of State and Defence visited Amaechi in Port Harcourt to discuss the issue of oil theft in Nigeria. From their records, they gave Amaechi figures of billions of dollars (about $7 billion, annually) that was being lost to oil theft in Nigeria. They were discussing the issue and figures of oil theft, and that was how the CBN governor’s letter to President Jonathan came up. In the presence of journalists covering the visit, Amaechi brought out the Sanusi’s letter to the visiting American delegation to buttress the point that Nigeria was losing far more money to non-remittance of proceeds from oil sale into the federation account, which everyone seemed to concur, was in itself, another form and another dimension to the issue of oil theft”.

The minister is angry that his actions have been misrepresented. “To suggest, infer or even extrapolate that Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi surreptitiously, clandestinely or underhandedly ‘leaked’ the CBN governor’s (Sanusi’s) letter is indeed most unfair, disrespectful and uncharitable to his person”.

The statement said Amaechi did what he did because he believed that the theft and corruption was just too much. He was propelled by his patriotic zeal to put Nigeria first, do what is in the best interest of the nation and Nigerians, and stop the bleeding and sucking of our collective resources by a tiny few.”

Looting in the oil sector may still be going on, according to the Amaechi camp. “The mind-boggling corruption revelation in the recent past that is still ongoing clearly justifies and vindicates Amaechi’s stance on the issue and the actions he took.”

The way it is, Amaechi seems to stand by his action: “Faced with the same situation, under similar circumstances, Amaechi will not act differently. The good of Nigeria, putting the nation and Nigerians first, will always be his guiding principle.”

Ignatius Chukwu