He said that on assumption of office he met an empty treasury, while there were backlog of unpaid salaries of workers and some abandoned projects that needed to be completed.
Wike made this clarification on Friday, September 11, saying that it was very difficult for the state government to discharge its financial responsibility of paying civil servants and contractors while waiting for the next federation account, The Punch report.
The governor explained that the loan that his government took was used for essential projects that can be verified stating that there is a workable plan of repayment for the loan pointing out that, overseas students’ allowances and unpaid pensions have been cleared by his administration.
He made this known through his spokesman, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, while reacting to criticism from the All Progressives Congress who alleged that the governor took N30billion in 30 days.
Wike stressed that if the immediate past administration was prudent with state resources, there would not have been need for the loan.
He said: “Rotimi Amaechi in one of his valedictory speeches admitted that the state is broke and he is bequeathing an empty treasury to Governor Wike.
“We inherited an empty treasury festered by huge pecuniary liabilities such as backlog of salaries, pensions, fees for students on scholarships and a plethora of other burning issues, including abandoned projects.
“Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the governor going for loans; the issue is not whether loans are taken, but the judicious application of such loans is what should be the issue.”
Wike stated that the APC is frightened by his achievements so far that is why it is cooking up all these allegations.
In swift reaction, APC state publicity secretary, Chris Finebone, said that what Wike is parading as achievement is a plot that he wants to use to deceive people of the state.
Meanwhile, Amaechi had challenged the state government to publish statements of accounts of three banks he left behind on May 29, 2015. He said he left N8 billion in these accounts but Wike’s administration continued to paint him black to the public
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