The Rivers State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, says its fears have been confirmed that the State House of Assembly lacks the moral authority and political will to act as an arm of government independent of their paymaster and self-centred ruling PDP at the expense of State interest.
Piqued by what it described as shameful the deferment of deliberation on the House committee report that recommended the immediate sack of the Ahoada East Council chairman, Cassidy Ikegbidi for corruptly enriching himself and wastefully mismanaging the resources of the council after months of thorough investigation.
ACN in a statement issued and signed by its publicity secretary, Jerry Needam regretted that the lawmakers could brazenly throw decorum to the winds in a bid to sweep under the carpet a clear case of monumental theft, executive lawlessness and conversion of the people’s entitlements to personal estate with such degree of impunity.
Jerry Needam said by this singular act, the entire House under the failed leadership of Otelemaba Amachree has proved that they are only a bunch of bench warmers always ready to be pushed around to endorse directed wishes and intentions as would dummies.
“The lawmakers had no reason whatsoever to wait one minute longer to ratify the recommendation of the House Committee which itself admitted they lacked the words to explain the monumental fraud that greeted them during their investigation. This, in itself is criminal, heinous, ungodly and outright betrayal of trust. The problem with this crop of lawmakers is that they don’t record events and care less about their actions as though they will remain in the desecrated chambers forever.
Otherwise, how can this illogical action of allowing a confirmed kleptomaniac to continue to sit on the fortunes of a whole Local Government Area a day longer after the evil he committed for years has brought him out”, Jerry Needam noted.
The ACN said that the House had ab-initio wanted to ignore all the allegations leveled against Mr. Ikegbidi but for the alarm raised by it and other well-meaning Rivers people, stressing that they must have been settled as alleged that the embattled chairman has been using one Ibeso Nwuche to reach out to the lawmakers.
“Good enough the House Committee report on the council chairman is now a public document, an acid test on the integrity of the House and reference point.
It’s no longer a party affair that they can claim to have resolved inhouse. This is a case of grave fraud and phantom misappropriation of public funds, a good case for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should they shamelessly ignore this mind-shattering malfeasance and economic sabotage, the ACN will never keep quiet in the face of this madness.
We’ll use every legal means possible to make sure that this case is followed to a logical end so that the people of Ahoada East Local Government Area and indeed, the Rivers people are not taken for a ride by the ruling PDP government under the leadership of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi”, Jerry Needam concluded.
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