Whereabouts Of Rivers State N78 Billion

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Whereabouts of the N78 billion refund to Rivers State by federal government has been generating concerns<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> has gathered that the whereabouts <strong>of<&sol;strong> the N 78 billion refunded by the President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government to Rivers State has raised fundamental questions about transparency and accountability in governance&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Speculation has been rife over how governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State spent the whopping sum&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The speculation gained currency when there have been no new capital intensive projects embarked upon by the State in recent past&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;It would be recalled that the federal government had approved the disbursement N78&period;9 billion as reimbursement for the amount spent on executing some federal road projects in the state&comma; including Port Harcourt-Owerri road&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The approval for the refund was granted at the virtual Federal Executive Council &lpar;FEC&rpar; meeting presided over by Buhari on June 3&comma; 2020&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;&&num;8221&semi;I wish to on behalf of the government and people of Rivers State appreciate and most sincerely thank you for graciously approving the refund of the sum of N78&period;9 billion to Rivers State Government&comma; as cost of the execution of federal government road projects in Rivers State&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Wike said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;As of the time Rivers State account was credited with the huge sum&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Edo<&sol;a> governorship election had picked up&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Nyesom Wike who played central role in the victory of governor Obaseki of Edo Stae was believed to have dipped his hands into the money to fund the Edo election&comma; a development that sparked curiosity about the whereabouts of the fund&period;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;But&comma; almost a year after&comma; governor Wike stated last week that he has not spent a kobo out of the money&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I have not spent one kobo out of that money&period; The money is sleeping in the bank&comma;” he disclosed&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The governor’s disclosure about the whereabouts of the fund may have sufficiently doused tension in the Garden City&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He however added that he will not leave office with any uncompleted project&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;All projects we started will be completed&period; My successor will have to start on a clean slate&comma;” Wike stated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;