THE Rivers State Integrity and Development Forum has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the management of funds accruing to the state since the inception of the Rotimi Amaechi administration.
The group in a statement on Monday asked the EFCC to probe an alleged reckless borrowing, inflation of contract and the management of the Greater Port Harcourt N100bn take-off grant by the Amaechi administration.
The statement signed by the Chairman of the group, Mr. Warigbani Ezekiel and its Secretary, Sotonye George, recalled that the current administration in the state had received N2.4trn and a huge internally generated revenue, adding that the state has an external debt profile that remains scary.
It expressed the need for the anti-graft commission to probe the monorail project, the stadium project, the 10-kilometre Trans-Amadi Road, sale of government property and the displacement of over 800,000 people through the demolition of Abonema Wharf.
"In a strange governance style, since October 27, 2007, the story of Rivers is replete with demolition and sale of government properties, communal land and forceful illegal seizures of whole communities," the group stated.
However, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, said that the Amaechi administration was not afraid of EFCC, adding that the current administration had managed the funds accruing to the state to the benefit of the people.
Describing the group as comprising faceless and disgruntled politicians, Okocha argued that though criticism was necessary in democracy, it (criticism) should be constructive.
He challenged members of the group to take a tour of the 23 local government areas to see what the Amaechi, administration had done in the area of human and capital development.
Okocha said, "Those calling on the EFCC to probe us should know that we are not afraid of the EFCC because we have managed Rivers funds to the benefit of the people of the state. In education, Rivers remains the best in the country."
