Judith Amaechi, wife of former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, has denied receiving a monthly payment of N4 billion from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had alleged that Rotimi Amaechi used his wife to receive a monthly payment of N4 billion from the NDDC during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Wike, who called for the probe of the NDDC by President Bola Tinubu, said the funds earmarked for training women in the Niger Delta were directed to Amaechi’s wife during Buhari’s administration.
However, Amaechi’s wife denied the allegations via a statement issued by her media aide, Dike Bekwele, on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.
Bekwele described the allegations as “a mere blackmail intended to undermine the reputation and integrity” of Amaechi’s wife and the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI).
Bekwele said Wike made the allegations without “any iota of decency, and with disregard to the precision of facts, rather to a mere vainglory in a bid to score cheap political goals.”
Bekwele stated that the ESI was duly incorporated in 2011 as a Non-Governmental Organization with the Corporate Affairs Commission, saying the initiative secured partnerships and collaborations with development partners including the NDDC.
Bekwele said: “It will be preposterous for Wike to allege that the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI) or Dame Judith Amaechi was indicted in the NDDC forensic audit report which has not been published to the Nigerian Public. It is both absurd, baseless, and a mere figment of Mr. Wike’s imaginations.
“The ESI enjoys a robust partnership and relationship with its development partners including the NDDC. Such relationship has provided interventions in critical areas of the region, including empowerment of the youths and women in vocation and skills required for middle-level manpower by corporate organizations in the Niger Delta Region.
“Again, the allegation of an indictment of Dame Amaechi and the ESI is only a subtle blackmail to score cheap political goals.
“We expect that Minister Nyesom Wike will remain patient to his prayers answered on the unpublished NDDC forensic audit report, than to engage and indulge in media trial on a Live National telecast.”
Bekwele, therefore, challenged Wike to “make public his version of the forensic audit report on the NDDC where either Dame Judith Amaechi or the ESI were indicted.”
He added: “In the likely event that Wike fails to provide such report, then we challenge Mr. Wike to actuate his boast and make bold to tender his resignation as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, forthwith with an unreserved apology to the Nation.
“May we also advise Mr. Wike to stop bringing the country’s image to disrepute as his uncouth and uncultured attitude is capable of undermining and under-marketing the nation’s effort at attracting foreign investors into the country.”
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