Wike Dares Buhari To Disclose Spending Of External Borrowings
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has challenged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to show evidence of how it has been spending the money borrowed from external creditors.
This was as he said the country has enormous resources which, if well managed, can change, not only the fortunes of the country, but the life of every Nigerian.
Wike threw the challenge at the Federal Government during the inauguration of the Rumuola Flyover Bridge, Port Harcourt by the former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, on Thursday.
The governor stated that his administration is propelled by love and commitment to service, noting that that is why it is working assiduously and deploying Rivers’ resources judiciously for the good of the people of the state.
“It is very clear that governance is not by magic. It is all about commitment. It is all about your love for your people and your country.
“This country has enormous resources to change the lives of our people. Nobody should give excuses. Like we would always say, if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.
“So, all these stories that you borrowed money from here, and there, let us see what the money is being used for. If we borrowed money, we are showing Rivers people what we used that money to do,” he said.
Governor Wike said he is preoccupied with the duties of governance and rendering service to the people who elected him, adding that his best reply to the opposition is the evidence of the quality projects that his administration has continued to deliver.
“It is clear to them,” he said, “that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled state government has performed creditable well.
Aside the numerous roads completed and ongoing, Governor Wike explained that his administration has, within a period of two years, delivered nine flyover bridges which were handled by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.
“This government has done well. This PDP government has done well. Our contractor is Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. We are competing with federal government that is using Julius Berger. Ask them how much it is to pay Julius Berger.
“None of these flyovers cost us less than N7 billion. Now, the average of N7biilion into nine and the other roads done by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC and the quality they give.
“I am happy and proud to associate myself with a company that gives the best as far as construction is concerned. I can move about in this state and country proudly,” Wike said.
The governor warned criminal elements who steal manhole covers on major roads and on the flyovers bridges to desist from their nefarious activities.
He described the criminals and their alleged sponsors as enemies of the state “because they are sabotaging the good works that have been achieved to make motoring pleasurable with the state’s resources.
“Let me warn those who steal the cover of the manholes. You know when you take actions, people bring ethnic colouration. Those of you who are stealing the cover of manholes, if you like come from anywhere, if anybody want to sabotage us, we will tell you how saboteurs are treated.
“We cannot do this road construction and you come to sabotage us by stealing to disappoint us, to make people have accident.”
Performing the project inauguration, former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, said Governor Wike has proved himself worthy of his sobriquet: “Mr. Project”.
According to him, those who feel unsettled by Wike’s words and actions cannot take away the fact that he conceives projects, plan projects, delivers projects because he loves projects.
“Some see governance or being in government as an end in itself. You have deployed your limitless energy, by these accomplishments, to demonstrate that governance is a means to an end; the improvement of the lives of our people,” Mimiko said.
The former Ondo State governor also spoke on the need to restructure the country, saying it is an imperative means to a just, more productive and more prosperous nation.
He noted that restructuring is also about policies and actions towards getting Nigerian children off the streets into schools for the right kind of education.
According to Mimiko, it is also about improved subnational accountability in tackling youth unemployment and general alienation and many more.
“It is also not about Niger Delta oil and gas alone. After all, with the present state of climate change consciousness and concomitant investment in renewables, fossil fuel may sooner than later become truly fossil and outdated.
“It is about ensuring that all our God-given minerals, e.g., gold in Zamfara or Osun, is optimally exploited for the people, and not unaccountably, by, and for a few elites and their rampaging foreign collaborators.
“It is about a decentralized security architecture that will ensure nimble, versatile, accountable and optimally responsive formations,” he said.
Providing a description of the project, Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Elloka Tasie-Amadi, said the Rumuola Flyover Bridge project that was awarded on the 2 July, 2020 to Julius Berger Nigeria PLC was complete by August, 2021.
