Wike Please Publish Rivers State Bank Accounts Statements And Put An End To This Unnecessary Furore

By Solomon Okocha
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The Patriots Alliance have noticed with great dismay, the sad state of political and social interaction in Rivers State for quite some time now. Since the controversial emergence of Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike as the Governor of Rivers State, the media space has been inundated with one form of embarrassing controversy or the other.

From the issue of missing kitchen utensils in the Government House, unexplainable discovery of government vehicles by the road side, to accusations of empty treasury et al, the people of Rivers State are yet to feel any sense of peace after the just past violence ridden polls.

Governor Wike has on countless occasions accused former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of leaving an empty Treasury for the State, but the later has constantly presented an entirely different picture of the matter at hand. Former Governor Amaechi has supplied the public with detailed information of what was left in Rivers State bank accounts as at when the former Governor left office.

According to the former Governor a total of N7.5 billion cash was left behind as balance in the state Internally Generated Revenue account with Skye Bank, FAAC account with Zenith Bank, balance with Access Bank and funds in the State reserve fund account in First Bank.

This is besides other balance in the state Government House account with Zenith Bank and other government ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs accounts, like the Bureau for Public Procurement, BPP. Amaechi left N939m in the Commercial Agric Credit Scheme Account in Zenith Bank.

“By the time you pull all these together, we are looking at readily available cash in the region of N8 billion to N10 billion left for the Wike administration," Amaechi said. But surprisingly, Governor Wike still maintains that nothing was left in the state's purse, as against his earlier claim that he met only N1.8Bn in the State's IGR coffers.

In view of the endless and shameful controversy surrounding the current state of Rivers State's bank accounts, we hereby urge Governor Wike to publish records of all Rivers State Bank Accounts operated by the last administration. We believe that this is the only way to ascertain who is on the pedestal of truth as well as put Rivers people on an informed position on the Financial health of their State.

Finally, let it be known to all and sundry that the bank accounts in question are not the personal bank accounts of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi nor that of Governor Nyesom Wike, therefore, the statement of all bank accounts as at 28th and 29th May, 2015 respectively, should be published for Rivers people who are the rightful owners to see in order to avert a total loss of trust in the government.

Solomon Okocha
For: The Patriots Alliance
[email protected]