Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike
THE
Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday submitted its
report to the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, with an appeal to him
to recover stolen funds belonging to the people, including the sum of
N53bn taken from the State Reserve Fund.
The commission was set up by Wike to
investigate the sale of valued assets belonging to the state by the
Rotimi Amaechi administration.
The Chairman of the commission, Justice
George Omereji, suggested that the state governor should swing into
action and ensure that billions of naira belonging to the state stashed
away in some places were retuned while those found culpable should be
prosecuted.
Omereji,
who spoke with newsmen after submitting the panel’s report, disclosed
that investigation had revealed that the immediate past administration
in the state had removed N53bn from the N55bn left in the State Reserve
Fund between 2014 and May 2015.
He explained that the commission could
not find any project linked to the withdrawal of the N53bn from the
State Reserve Fund and added that the money was shared among the cronies
of the past administration.
Describing the task given to the panel as
enormous, Omereji also disclosed that the immediate past administration
could not actualise the building of the Justice Karibi Whyte Hospital,
even when a huge amount of money had been paid to contractors for the
project.
He said, “There was the sum of N55bn in
the State Reserve Fund. Between 2014 and May 2015, they (immediate past
administration) were able to remove N53bn and we found out that the
money (N53bn) was not used for the projects in the state. The money went
to individuals. From the papers submitted to us, we also found out that
the money was given to people they like.
“We went to the site of the Justice
Karibi Whyte Hospital, we did not see anything at all. When I told the
project contractor to come with us (panel) to the place, he said snakes
would bite us.
“But I insisted that we should go there.
Behold, by the time we went inside, we did not see anything. The whole
billions of naira given to the man cannot be accounted for.
“We have recommended that those found
culpable should refund the money. We even recommended that some people
should be prosecuted.
Responding, the state governor vowed to
implement the recommendations of the Omereji-led panel and maintained
that his administration would not be intimidated by any person or group
of persons.
Explaining that the report will not be
like any other report, Wike assured that the state government would
immediately swing into action with a view to looking into the
commission’s recommendations and take necessary steps.
Reacting to the panel’s report, the
former governor, Rotimi Amaechi, in a statement by his Media Office,
described the allegation of a “missing N53bn” as “unfortunate and leaves
much to be desired.”
The statement added, “The mischief is all
the more evident as the funds referred to are funds from the Rivers
State reserve fund which was duly approved by the Rivers State House of
Assembly and whose expenditure were duly captured and accounted for.”
The statement said Amaechi would not have
responded to the allegation but it would do so in keeping with
Amaechi’s ethos of transparent and accountable leadership.
It explained that between “2013 and early
2015 revenue accruing to the state was cut in half due to swindling
federal allocation to states. From about an average of N20bn, the state
began receiving between N9bn and N10bn. By the middle of the first
quarter of 2015 the state revenue dipped to as low as N6bn. Salaries
alone stood at over N9bn besides other expenses. Government has set
aside the reserve funds as a rainy day fund and had needed to fall back
to it to fund salaries and projects.
“The details of the expenditure were very
clearly captured and this information which was already In the public
domain was shared with the incoming and the Omeriji panel.
Amaechi advised the incumbent governor to
go to court and prove the “spurious allegations of corruption rather
than spending resources he “left behind for the betterment of Rivers
people by a prudent and thrifty government on frivolities.”
“We would counsel Mr. Wike to focus on
the job at hand and try to make something of the few days he has before
he leaves Brick House, per adventure he might yet make some positive
impact on the minds of Rivers people.
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