Wike: Rivers Governor says EFCC has no power to probe his government

Wike said no government official will honour invitations from the anti-graft agency.

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed the probe of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into the state government's over-the-counter withdrawal of N117 billion in the last three years.

The anti-graft commission has already summoned four key accounting staff in the Rivers State Government House for interrogation over the probe, but Wike said no government official will honour the summons.

In a statement signed by the governor's Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, on Sunday, August 26, 2018, he said EFCC cannot probe his government until the agency overturns a 2007 judgement of the Federal High Court restraining it from probing the financial operations of the Rivers State government.

"We are not afraid of their probe and they have no power to probe us. No government official will appear before the EFCC until they set aside the court judgment of Rivers State Government against them in 2007. We cannot be intimidated," the statement read.

EFCC probe is a witch-hunt - Wike

Wike further accused the federal government of orchestrating a political witch-hunt against state governments in the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) by using the EFCC to probe accounts when it's not their mandate.

"We are aware of their tricks. They should not bother engaging in media trial because it will not work. This is a mere political witch-hunt.

"An agency of federal government has frozen the accounts of Akwa Ibom and Benue State Governments. This is the worst coup against the constitution and the law-abiding people of those states.

"But the target is not Benue or the Akwa Ibom States. The real target is Rivers State. The EFCC as a federal agency has no business with State Funds. That is the responsibility of the State House of Assembly."

Bank accounts belonging to the Benue State and Akwa Ibom State governments were recently frozen by the EFCC in light of investigations into their financial transactions. Just like Wike, both governments have condemned the probes as a witch-hunt.

from pulse.ng - Nigeria's entertainment & lifestyle platform online

from LexxyTech Corporation https://ift.tt/2MVTZVq