River State Governor, Nyesom Wike has debunked recent claims by his predecessor that he left the sum of N7.5 billion in the state treasury before handing over, restating its earlier declaration that an empty tyeasury was what was met on ground as at his assumption of office.
Speaking via a statement issued on Saturday, August 22, 2015 by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, Governor Wike wondered why students on scholarships in various universities were being owed their school fees and allowances, when a small fraction of the claimed N7.5 billion could have settled their outstanding debts, when they were on the brink of being sent home for non-payment of fees.
The statement read in parts: He said, “If he (Amaechi) is saying he left N7.5bn, why did he fail to pay Rivers students studying abroad under the state government’s scholarship scheme, apart from the fact that pensioners were owed between six and eight months’ pension arrears?
“The former governor has been inconsistent in the amount he said he left in the treasury. On one hand, he would say he left N7.5bn, and in the next breath, he would say he left N10bn.
“But we have been consistent in saying we met an empty treasury with huge debts to pay. Civil servants, footballers (Rivers Angels and Dolphins) and contractors were owed. But we thank God that we started paying them after we settled in. We have made our point and we are consistent about it.”
