Amaechi, who is also the Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum, wondered how President Goodluck Jonathan arrived at his submission that there was no corruption in the country while he accused the concerned authorities at looking the other way while the massive stealing was going on.
The governor stated this on Friday during an inspection tour of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium ahead of the APC Mega rally in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
He accused the Federal Government of being economical with the truth by denying that the nation was not broke when there were no allocations to the states.
Amaechi said, “Stealing is increasing by the day, but President Jonathan said there is no corruption in the country. Corruption in Nigeria is uncontrollable. People are stealing our money every day and the police are helpless because they are part of the system.
“The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Nigeria is not broke and if she is saying that there is money in the country, let her pay us our debts and our money. She said, the shortfall in revenue does not mean that Nigeria is broke.
“When Commissioners of Finance converged on Enugu, almost everybody left without money. How then can we define being broke? She is an expert economist; let her tell Nigerians how our money is spent and where our money is, because the matter is getting serious.”
Amaechi alleged that the Federal Government had derailed from its vision of creating wealth for the Nigerian people but had rather taken steps to “sabotage the economy of the nation and deliberately impose unnecessary suffering on innocent Nigerians.”
He said despite the declining federal allocations to the states, he is determined to complete most of the projects started by his administration.
Amaechi expressed confidence that the state’s N19bn reserve fund that was approved by the State House of Assembly would be used to complete ongoing projects before the end of his tenure.
He said, “It is so alarming that we cannot pay salaries and even complete our projects. But, we will shame those people who think we cannot complete our projects. We promised to work on Oyigbo roads, complete Elioparanwo road, and also work on Rumuagholu road and several others.
“We will also furnish our primary schools, carry out renovation of our secondary schools. But, we are starved of funds by the Federal Government. So, how do we complete our projects? That is why I said, we will work until May 29, 2015, before leaving office.”
Amaechi said the idea of the reserve fund was conceived when the state realised that there could be a time when paucity of funds could hit the state or the country.
The governor added, “While saving the N1bn monthly, I knew that there could be a time when the economy of the country or state will be challenging, so, I started saving the money in our reserve fund. But, the problem of money is not only in Rivers State. The Lagos State Governor has complained bitterly, including other APC Governors.
“The approval of the N19bn by the Rivers State House of Assembly from the reserve fund will help us to complete our projects.”
NigerianEye
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