NDDGG threatens to sue Rivers govt if it fails to give account of N117bn

By Ebi Perekeme 

A rights group, Network for Defence of Democracy and Good Governance (NDDGG), has threatened to sue the Rivers State Government if it failed to provide detailed explanations on the deployment of N117bn its officials allegedly withdrawn from the state’s accounts between 2015 and 2017.

EFCC has been at loggerheads with the state government following the commission’s investigations into alleged withdrawal of the funds over the counter in many tranches by officials of the government.

But the state government said the EFCC lacked the powers to investigate the state following the subsisting judgement of the Federal High Court barring it from probing Rivers finances.

The NDDGG, however, insisted that the government owed the people an explanation on how the colossal amount of money was used in the state.

The Leader of the group, Chief Sobomabo Jackrich, who spoke in Usokun in Degema Local Government Area, called on the government to show the projects the money was used to execute in the state.

He said: “The Network for Defence of Democracy and Good Governance (NDDGG), hereby, states that while the Rivers State Government engages the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with defence and justification, it is not immune to accounting to the Rivers People for whom they hold these funds in trust.

“We will, therefore, not allow our own government to continue to embarrass us as a people with very scandalous reports that portray us in bad light.

“In keeping with our obligation to ensure probity in public office and finances, we issue a seven-day ultimatum to the Rivers State Government to publish in full details all that pertain to these transactions. Failure to meet our demands would culminate in a peaceful campaign and protest by the Rivers people to ensure that justice is served.”

Also, the Woman Leader of the group, Mrs. Faka Alami, said they were worried that the money was withdrawn and there was no known project to show for it.

She said: “We are worried that this money was withdrawn and we have nothing to show for it. The money belongs to the tax payers. We want to know capital projects that this monies were used for”.