*Let EFCC probe me – Ortom

“I want to say in the name of Almighty God I have never touched local government funds one day, I have never and I have no reason to do that,” were the exact words with which Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State, on Friday absolved himself of complicity in the allegations that governors governors are stealing money belonging to the third tier of government.

He was joined in denying culpability by his Benue State, counterpart, Samuel Ortom, have challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to expose the governors who were involved.

Buhari at the presidential parley for members of the Senior Executive Course 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) inside the State House, Abuja, had accused the governors of stealing the allocations meant for the councils, which had stiffled that arm of governments.

But Wike and Ortom, members of the G-5 Integrity Group of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday during the inauguration of the Mgbuosimini Internal Roads in Rivers State, challenged the President to name the particular governors involved.

Wike, once a local government Chairman, himself said he learnt a lot from Peter Odili, the first civilian Governor of the state in the current democratic dispensation, who never touched his own funds in his council between 1999 and 2007, saying that he also did not tamper with those who he met from 2015 till date.

His words: “I want to challenge Mr. President, Mr. President you are a leader and we believe as leaders you must come out and tell Nigerians, who are those committing this offence? You said the governors are taking local government funds, I want to say in the name of Almighty God I have never touched local government funds one day, I have never and I have no reason to do that.

“So Mr. President who are those people? You know them, tell us. It is not good to say what you call class defamation, you say, governors, please I am not one of those governors, so Mr. President please spare me, tell Nigerians that the Integrity governors are not part of them, we have integrity, we are not part of them.”

On his part, Ortom also denied touching funds meant for local government, saying that their funds go to them directly from the federation account, saying: “It is a logical fallacy to say that all governors are criminals; all governors are stealing from local government. I join Governor Wike to say from 2015, let EFCC come, let ICPC come, let every other agency that can unearth this, as far as Benue State is concerned let them bring it out so that we know the people, there is no point generalising that all of us are evil people.

“I don’t do it, I didn’t like it when the Federal Government enacted something and said local government should have financial autonomy, but from that day all monies are paid to the local government, and no single naira has been paid through anyone, all monies that come from the federation account go straight to the individual councils.”