Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry has alleged that former governor Rotimi Amaechi spent N53 billion out of the N55 billion in the State Reserve Fund between 2014 and May 2015.
Chairman of the commission, Justice George Omereji said this while submitting the commission’s report to the State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
He urged Wike to recover stolen funds and ensure that all those found guilty are prosecuted.
Omereji said “There was the sum of N55 billion in the State Reserve Fund. Between 2014 and May 2015, they (immediate past administration) were able to remove N53 billion and we found out that the money (N53 billion) 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.
“I don’t want to tell you those that will be prosecuted. It is not good for me to reveal the content of the recommendations now because we have just submitted our report.”
He explained to the governor that 27 memoranda and 142 exhibits were received by the commission and added that 25 witnesses testified before the panel.
He said “We hope that the government will act fast and by the time the government looks into this report and act fast, it will be able to recover billions that are still stashed in where they kept them.
“That money belongs to Rivers people and they should be recovered so that we can use it for the people of Rivers State.”