Politics
Respect the law, Wike tells Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari administration has been advised by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike to respect the constitution in the withdrawal of $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight insurgency.
He said that the Buhari-led Federal Government should respect the law and pay oil-producing states their 13 per cent derivation from the $1 billion withdrawn from the ECA fund to fight insurgency.
Wike stated this on Sunday when the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, presented to him a Leadership Newspaper Governor of the Year award for 2017, which he received on behalf of the governor at the award ceremony in Abuja.
He said that he had already been approached to lobby the Rivers State House of Assembly to approve the resolution mandating the withdrawal of the said funds as mandated by the constitution.
Noting that his administration was not against the fight against insurgency, he insisted that the required constitutional procedures must be respected.
“They have approached us to lobby for the passage of a resolution by the State House of Assembly approving the $1bn withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account to fight insurgency.
READ ALSO: Universities, Almajiri schools established by Jonathan now abandoned by Buhari— Yakasai
“The law is clear. You must remove 13 per cent derivation for oil-producing states from oil proceeds. We cannot be stampeded into doing the wrong thing. So, where is the 13 per cent derivation for oil-producing states? In fighting insurgency, you must respect the law,” he said.
Wike further accused Buhari’s government of carrying negative actions against his administration, all in a bid to deny the state the balance of the Paris Club Refund.
He said, “If you criticise the government, they deny the state funds due to it. This is a government that claims that it is fighting corruption,” he said.
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