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Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has said that he is ready for probe following allegations that N82 million was spent on his 80th birthday in Port Harcourt by former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.
He stated this in a statement titled: “Those who flounder in the sewage of corruption”, where he described the accusation as one coming from a government that lacks security.
The Rivers State government had said on Thursday that it is seeking refund of the money.
The state Commissioner for Information, Dr. Austin Tam-George, said on a radio programme that the government would officially write the Nobel Laureate for refund if it finally establishes that the don received part of the money.
He said:
“I will seek the permission of Governor Nyesom Wike to formally write Professor Wole Soyinka, a known supporter of Amaechi, if he received part of the N82 million spent on a three-hour dinner hosted for him by the Rotimi Amaechi administration.
“If he agrees that he received such funds, then he will be compelled to refund same to the coffers of Rivers State. At present, we have presented these details to the police for investigation and prosecution. We shall also take up this matter as a financial crime against the people of Rivers State”.
But in his rebuttal, Soyinka said he was not only ready for the corruption probe but the Rivers State Government be willing to extend invitations to INTERPOL to join the investigation.
Soyinka’s words:
“I have learnt of some unsavory statements by the insecure incumbent of the Rivers State government Lodge. These included a loose invitation to anti-crime agencies to investigate the potential crime of being honoured through any occasion.
“The descent to this present level of abominable distractions makes one truly despair. It is one that even I did not envisage when I warned – ‘Corruption strikes back!’ Whether it brings honour or dishonour to the nation is another matter – I am saddened, but indifferent. EFCC and company – over to you! You all know where I live.
“The unprecedented call by this governor is prescient of a warning I recounted in my recent pamphlet publication, ‘The republic of liars’ and was taken from my address to an anti-corruption global conference that took place in Tunisia two years ago”.