The Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has on Saturday, June 25, described as shocking and wicked, the many cases of alleged uncovered diversion of funds meant for the rehabilitation of dilapidated public schools in the State, under the administration of former Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
The PDP Rivers State Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah, made this observation, while reacting to the published list of persons invited by the State Senior Secondary Schools Board, for explanations over monies received from the immediate past administration, under Amaechi, but not used for the projects so awarded, and some collected, without project sites.
The State PDP Chairman said he was more worried that a government that made so much noise about giving the best education to the Rivers children, could condone such recklessness and allow monies earmarked to renovate the schools and provide the right atmosphere for studying, frittered away with careless abandon.
While enjoining the current State government not to limit its searchlight to the mess in the education sector, Obuah, said this was the kind of fraud the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, should be going after, with a view to recovering the loots and bringing to book the culprits.
The State PDP Chairman, however, regretted that rather than spread its dragnet for such fraudsters to sanitise the society, the anti-craft agency was busy haunting opponents of the All Progressives Congress-led, APC, Federal Government, innocent citizens, most of whom have spent the better part of their lives in service to the country.
“Notwithstanding the collaboration between those responsible for the parlous state of the public schools and the general looting of Rivers State treasury, and the anti-corruption agents, the Rivers State government should not leave any stone unturned in exposing illegalities discovered anywhere in the State, under the administration of Amaechi and those behind them, no matter the social status of their perpetrators,” Obuah stated.
He, therefore, urged all those implicated in the ghost contracts and looting in Rivers State under the Amaechi administration, to do the needful, by being ready and willing to refund the stolen funds and save the State further waste of scarce resources on litigation.
In response, the Rivers State chapter of the APC faulted the accusations made against the former Governor and described it as a diversion from the looming investigation by the EFCC, on the activities of the current Governor.
The APC, expressed shock about Wike’s resort to wild and baseless accusations when the noose was tightening on his “inglorious” government.
The APC through its State Secretary, Chris Fine bone, noted that the recently reported invitation to certain companies and persons by the Rivers State Secondary Schools’ Board on funds allegedly collected for renovation of secondary schools in Rivers, under Amaechi’s administration, was nothing more than the old tired refrain by Wike’s government and the PDP, to divert attention.
