The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has asked his predecessor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and members of his government to refund about N98 billion allegedly stolen from the state coffers.
Amaechi is accused of diverting the money being the proceeds from the alleged sales of the state assets and amount spent on some contracts that were not executed but paid for while in power.
This was contained in a White Paper issued by the state government on the report and recommendations made by the Justice George Omereji’s Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the Wike administration to investigate the alleged sales of the valued assets of the state by the Amaechi administration.
This was as he ordered the suspension of permanent secretaries and other top civil servants indicted by the report.
The judicial commission had submitted its report, which indicted Amaechi and recommendations to the governor, on Wednesday, advising the government to take a quick step and act on the recommendations.
Addressing newsmen on the White Paper after the state executive council meeting, on Friday, Commissioner for Housing, Mr Emma Okah, said Amaechi, two of his commissioners and a former military administrator in the state, Brigadier Anthony Ukpo, should refund the money.
He said the state government, after the meeting, accepted all the recommendations as contained in the report and was already taking steps to act on them.
He also disclosed that the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Emma Aguma, had been directed to immediately commence the process of prosecuting Amaechi and the other three persons for alleged illegal sales of the state’s assets.
Okah specifically said Amaechi would be prosecuted along with the former state Commissioner for Finance, Dr Chamberlain Peterside and his counterpart in the Ministry of Power, Sir Augustine Nwokocha.
He said the state government had also ordered the Attorney-General to commence the recovery of funds realised from the sale of the four gas turbines from the former governor and Nwokocha.