By: Felix Ikpotor
As condemnations continue to trail the donation of N500m by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike to his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal over a fire incident that gutted a market in the state, the Rivers State Civil Society Organisation, RIVSCO has called on leadership of the State Assembly to invite the governor to ascertain the budgetary correctness of the gift.
The organization condemned what it termed continued silence of the lawmakers.
State Chairman of RIVCSO, Enefaa Georgewill in a statement said, “ we condemn in its entirety the continues silence of members of the Rivers State House of Assembly over the governors’ gifting of five hundred million naira to traders in Sokoto State despite widespread condemnation of the act by Rivers people”.
“RIVCSO call on the Rivers State Assembly as the representative of the people to invite the Rivers State Governor to the hallowed to explain, under what budget heading did the governor donate Rivers peoples’ money to Sokoto traders? If it’s not appropriated in the budget, who gave him the authority to donate such huge amount of money in a constitutional democracy?
Georgewill further wondered why the governor has not “paid similar visit and donate to Rivers citizens who are victims of disaster like the flood victims of orashi region, gas explosion at Komkom in Oyigbo, military invasion and destruction of properties in ONELGA and Ahoada West communites and several other disasters that have happened in the state.”
He further wondered why the governor has not built a sixteen thousand capacity market in the state before going ahead to donate to another state.
The organization threatened that if the lawmakers fail to invite the governor, it will align with those who have assumed that the assembly is a rubber stamp.
