THE former Commissioner for Youth Development in Rivers State, Chisom Gbali, has claimed that the Sole Administrator of Rivers State acknowledged Governor Siminalayi Fubara had left more than ₦200 billion in state funds before his suspension.
In an interview with Channels TV, Gbali described the governor’s financial management approach. “The governor saves money in quarterly basis and then uses it to pay backlog of projects, and even the sole administrator alluded to it that the governor had paid for all the ongoing projects,” he stated.
He further explained the intended purpose of these funds: “So, the next phase of money is to start another project that we’re about to flag off, especially during the second tenure in office, and now those funds are there. And those are the funds they are carting away with.”
The former Commissioner raised concerns about the current financial procedures in the state since the sole administrator took over. “You also know that there’s no subsisting appropriation law; there’s no budget in Rivers State, so how are they using the money, and why are they using the money?,” he questioned.
He accused the current administration of misusing these reserves: “They are looking for where to tie the funds down, and they are carting away with funds every day. They gave the outline that the Governor left over N200 billion in office, and that is because he’s a prudent man; he tries to manage funds and then use it for a certain project. But what we are seeing in Rivers State now is that they’re using it now anyhow.”
