‘I by no means received N4bn month-to-month from NDDC’ – Amaechi’s spouse refutes Wike’s declare

Judith Amaechi, the wife of former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has refuted the claim by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, that she received N4 billion monthly from the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for women’s empowerment and training, describing the allegation as absurd and baseless.

Amaechi also slammed Wike’s assertion that she had been indicted in a corruption probe involving the NDDC, adding that the allegation levelled against her was a form of subtle blackmail aimed at scoring cheap political points.

Nyesom Wike and Rotimi Amaechi are said to share a similar political history, both having served as governors of oil-rich Rivers State in the Niger Delta region.

DAILY POST reports that Amaechi was in office from May 2007 to May 2015, after which he handed over to Wike, who also served for eight years.

However, the relationship between the two has since soured, with both parties engaging in mutual recriminations.

Recall that in an interview in early July 2025, Wike claimed that Judith received N4bn monthly, amounting to a total of N48bn, to train Niger Delta women.

Responding in a statement on Tuesday, Judith’s spokesperson, Dike Bekwele, stated that there was no iota of truth in the allegation levelled by Wike against Judith and the Empowerment Support Initiative, ESI.

“Dame Amaechi did not and has never received four billion naira monthly payments from the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

“The partnership between the Empowerment Support Initiative and the NDDC is reciprocal, to jointly fund human capacity programmes and trainings for the teeming youths and women; supporting nano, micro, small and medium scale entrepreneurs, and its entrepreneurial development centre for youths and women of the Niger Delta Region.

“It will be preposterous for Wike to allege that the Empowerment Support Initiative 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 imagination,” the statement read.

Amaechi’s wife, however, dared Wike to make public his version of the forensic audit report on the NDDC, where either she or ESI was allegedly indicted.