The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has alleged that a highly placed Rivers State Local Government Service Commission source has revealed that the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, whose election was recently annulled by the tribunal, has since withheld the federal allocation to the 23 local government area of the state for September.
The APC said this is against the relevant laws of the nation, which recognises the local government areas as a separate and independent tier of government.
The APC said according to its findings, which it claimed were confirmed by several sources, Wike withheld and converted the September allocations of the Councils to enable him use the money to pursue his matter at the Appeal and Supreme Courts.
The party said this accounts for why Council workers in Rivers State have not been paid their September salaries to date.
The APC recalled that a few days ago, one of Wike’s closest allies, O. C. J. Okocha (SAN), advised the governor to hire the best lawyers in the land to pursue the annulment of his election at the Court of Appeal and possibly the Supreme Court.
The APC also noted that some Council workers are being owed between two months and three months salaries because the outgoing governor alleged converted various Council allocations in the past.
It said several Council workers in the state have been unable to pay their children and wards schools fees since schools resumed in September and therefore have their children and wards sent out of school.
A particular Council staff from Opobo/Nkoro narrated his sad story of how he now begs from friends to feed his family.
The APC called on Wike to immediately and unconditionally release the allocations of the Local Government Areas in Rivers State as such an act is unlawful and criminal.
“Nyesom Wike must look up to the heavens and realise that the God of justice and of the poor exists,” the APC averred.
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