JUST IN: Court Orders Immediate Arrest Of Ex-Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi

A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital has issued a bench warrant against a former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Tonye Cole.

The judge, Justice Chinwendu Nwogu also issued a bench warrant against Sahara Energy Resources Limited, Chamberlain Peterside, NG powers HPS Limited and Cenpropsaroten Management Limited.

The bench warrant followed a lawsuit filed by the Rivers state government for alleged misappropriation of public funds against Amaechi during his tenure as governor of the state from 2007 to 2015.

Reports say the criminal charges were filed after the state Governor, Nyesom Wike constituted a seven-man panel in 2022 to probe Amaechi over an alleged withdrawal of N96 billion from the treasury during his tenure as governor.

The panel investigated the sale of valuable assets such as Omoku Gas Turbine, Afam Gas Turbine, Trans Amadi Gas Turbine, Eleme Gas Turbine, Olympia Hotel, and the contract award for the execution of the monorail project.

Though Amaechi has insisted that he is not guilty of fraud, the supreme court dismissed his application challenging the probe.

The bench warrant was issued against the defendants for failing to appear before the court over the criminal charges against them.

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that with twelve (12) days to hand over, President Muhammadu Buhari has made some fresh appointments.

In the latest appointments, Buhari approved the appointment of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a former Member of the Board, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chief Harris Ogbole, a member of the Council for Legal Education (Nigeria Law School), for a period of four years.