Fresh antagonism against Amaechi: EFCC told to probe Rivers’ N2.4trn earnings

ANTAGONISM against Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has assumed
a new twist with a group, Rivers Integrity and Development Forum,
RIDF, calling on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to
probe the governor over alleged financial abuses of the state's
resources.
Chairman of the group, Warigbani Ezekiel, who briefed newsmen in Port
Harcourt, weekend, said it beats the group's imagination that Rivers
since governorship of Amaechi in 2007 has received over N2.4trillion
statutory allocation as well as internally generated revenue and yet
has a debt profile of between N250 billion to N500 billion.
Reacting to the allegations and call for EFFC probe, Chief of Staff to
Government House, Mr. Tony Okocha, said there was a subsisting court
order barring any agency from probing any official of the Rivers State
Government or any of its agencies.
Okocha said: "Until that order is vacated by a court of competent
jurisdiction, no agency of the Federal Government, be it the EFCC or
Independent Corrupt Practice Commission, ICPC, can probe the
Government of Rivers State.
"Those who want to come to equity must come with clean hands. The
court has ordered that the government of Governor Amaechi should not
be probed."
Continuing, Ezekiel alleged: "At inception of office, Amaechi promised
Rivers people that he was saving N1 billion monthly on their behalf as
a kind of state Sovereign Wealth Fund. From that promise to this month
is a clear 58 months. That means N58 billion had been saved for Rivers
people. Surprisingly thus far, the state is in debts.
"Governor Amaechi has hidden under the façade of infrastructural
development to borrow sundry sums."
Today, Rivers people are embarrassingly at loss as to the exact debt
profile of the state, which is estimated to be between N250billion to
N500billion."
The group also accused the Amaechi's government of giving conflicting
figures on the debt profile of the state as well as duplication,
inflation and partisan award of contracts at the detriment of the
state's treasury, while also flaying sales of government property and
seizure of communal lands for alleged transfer to private concerns.