Rivers APC tackles Fubara, wants gov to account for over N144.2bn allocation

A political tug-of-war has erupted in Rivers State, with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state demanding accountability from Governor Siminalayi Fubara over the management of N144.2 billion in federal allocations received in the past five months.

The APC, represented by its Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, visited the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, on Tuesday, questioning the lack of visible infrastructural development despite the significant financial inflows. Okocha emphasized the absence of “anything on the ground to show for the funds,” raising concerns about transparency and responsible governance.

Okocha said, “As a party in opposition in the state, we have received data of the sum received by the Rivers State Government from the Federal Allocation from June 22, 2023 to November 2023.

“The Rt Hon. Speaker, it is our finding that a whooping sum of N144,291,667,791.1 has been received from the federal allocation under the governor. This amount is outside the Internally Generated Revenue of the state, which is put conservatively at N10bn every month.

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“We regret that this humongous amount has not translated to action in any way in terms of development in the state. What we see are heavily funded street processions and media-sponsored rallies in support of unnecessary political imbroglios.

“Fifth columnist and crisis entrepreneurs feed fat from our commonwealth. As a party, we shall not hesitate to punish any member of our party who is in the cohort in this gross financial malfeasance of our dear Rivers State.”

However, Governor Fubara’s administration refuted these claims, with the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, dismissing the APC’s accusations as purely “political.”

He said, “When we come to the accountability forum, the Rivers people will see what we have done and, of course, they know that we are on course.

“He (Okocha) forgot that we have given about N150bn legacy project for the Ring Road, which surpasses the N144bn he is talking about. We have paid 77 per cent of it.

“We are doing 20, 000 hectres of land for housing units.

“So you don’t just raise issues or mention figures without a proper understanding as to how government works. That’s why I said it’s his own imagination”.

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