The Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike to investigate his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi has submitted its report.
Chairman of the Commission, Justice George Omereji said the commission had discovered that the immediate past administration stashed away so much funds belonging to Rivers State.
Justice Omereji, however, urged Governor Wike to swing into action to recover the funds that were allegedly stashed by Amaechi.
According to Justice Omereji, “We are here to present the report and we would not want to state the content of the report but we want to say that if you go through the report and do what you promised, Rivers people will be better for it.
Speaking with newsmen after the submission, Justice Omereji claimed that N53 billion belonging to the state was allegedly diverted by the previous administration.
He said among other things, the commission recommended that those behind the alleged missing funds should be made to refund them.
He said: “On the billions of naira said to have been stashed away in some places, there was the sum of N55 billion in the State Reserve Fund. Between 2014 and May 2015, they were able to remove N53 billion and we found out that the 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.”
“We have seen, we have written and we have arrived at the conclusion that the Government should act fast. And by the time Government looks into the report and acts fast, we would be able to recover some billions where they kept them. That money belongs to Rivers people.”
In his response, the Rivers State governor assured that the recommendations of the commission would be treated with utmost urgency.
Wike said, “I want to assure you that this report will not be like any other report. We will make sure that we swing into action immediately to see that the recommendations made by your commission are implemented. We will not be intimidated by anybody or group of persons.”
The Commission received 27 memoranda, 242 exhibits as well as 25 witnesses.
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