Rotimi Amaechi
The Governor of Rivers State and factional Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has sounded the alarm over the ongoing stealing of public funds from the coffers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
This is as he declared that notwithstanding the decrease in funds allocated to states from the federation account, the Rivers State government is not broke and cannot go borrowing to pay salaries of civil servants in the state.
The governor, who spoke yesterday when he appeared on a live radio phone-in special interview programme, monitored by LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt alleged that the ongoing corruption in NNPC was undermining the revenue accruing to states in the federation.
His words, “The fact that our oil wells have been given to Bayelsa, in Soku and Abia, in Etche, it will naturally bring down our revenue. But beyond that is the stealing going on in NNPC. The president is talking about oil theft; what quantity of oil can they steal that will bring down revenue from N25 billion to N12 billion? So, the stealing is more in NNPC.
“This magazine, Forbes rated our President as the 6th richest president in Africa and he is denying it. Forbes is not a gossip magazine, it is what they see that they present to the public. This is the first time someone is denying his ranking in the magazine. People are saying I am abusing the president, I have never abused him. The only thing is that I state the facts the way they are. Forbes published that our president is the 6th richest African President, it is not Amaechi.
“Oil theft is a different thing and the stealing going on in NNPC is a different thing. Corruption in NNPC is undermining the revenue the states are getting,” he noted.
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