– Amaechi said N350, 000 is for accommodation and he also paid his aides- He further disclosed that there is no more money to hold parties.
The minister of transport Rotimi Amaechi at the presentation of a book titled, ‘Dignity in Service,’ authored by the late Matthew Mbu, a former minister of foreign affairs said he earned “only N950,000” a month out of which he also paid his aides. Punch reports that Amaechi who was the chairman of the occasion, said it was not true that only past leaders were honest.
While extolling the virtues of the late Mbu, Amaechi who was governor of Rivers state between 2007 and 2014, said he would continue to promote transparency.
To prove his claim, the minister revealed that he earned “only N950,000” a month out of which he also paid his staff. According to him, ”A minister earns only N950, 000 a month. Out of this money, N350, 000 is for accommodation so there is no more money given to you.
The remaining N600, 000 includes payment for your staff, personal assistants and all that. ”Nigerians like going to parties. That is one benefit of this government. We now assess our wealth and value money. Before, once you get money from the illegal means, we hold parties. There are very few parties these days because there is no more money to hold such parties.
The reason is that the ‘owambe’ money used to come from the government and there is no money in the government to do such. ”Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that Amaechi revealed that his biggest challenge running the ministry is having access to funds. Amaechi made the comment during an interaction with online journalists on Friday, August 11, in his office in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. His words: ”Money has been the basic challenge.
The contracts that you need to deliver on a railway are in tones of naira. Take for example the approval by the president that we should do a railway from Abuja to Lokoja to join Itakpe to Warri as well as a sea pot in Warri; that project was put at $3.1 billion, which is nearly N1 trillion. Where will you get the money from?”
