By Okey Muogbo
A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has praised Buhari and the APC-led Federal Government for contributing immensely to the development of Rivers state.
In a statement, on Tuesday the politician urged the state Governor, Nyesom Wike to appreciate the President’s efforts by stopping attacking President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance as President of Nigeria.
Wike had at a meeting with the leadership of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers state chapter said the APC-led Federal Government had failed Nigerians.
Eze quoted the Rivers state governor as telling the PDP leaders that: “You know there are problems in Nigeria and you made promises, asking Nigerians to vote for you, and for five years , nothing has changed”…. There is nothing the APC can say to Rivers people today as the reason they should be voted for. Whether it is the Federal Government or their political appointees, they have nothing to tell us”.
Reacting to the Governo’s attack, Eze described the Rivers Governor as a flamboyant hypocrite and a mere flip-flopper whose docile and startling unenlightened approach to governance has skyrocketed Rivers to the very peak of unemployment index in the country, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Dismissing Gov. Wike’s claims as fictitious and mere cocktail, Chief Eze, in a statement made available to media houses, said the federal government (FG) under President Mohammadu Buhari and the APC has set the pace in infrastructural development and job creation.
Chief Eze, a media strategist and analyst, noted that the simple fact that President Muhammadu Buhari administration is even bending back ward to pick the bills of federal projects executed by the Rivers state Government before the APC came into power to the tune of over N700Bn is something that should humble the likes of Wike and the discredited PDP.
“These were federal projects neglected by the PDP FG but executed by states yet they were not paid for. The APC FG and President Buhari came and paid them including N78.9Bn to Rivers State, but the only thank you in Wike’s mouth is insult for the APC and FG.
“Has Wike and his failed PDP forgotten that the PDP-led FG carefully refused to pay the correct deduction to the NDDC to the tune of over one trillion only for President Buhari and the APC-led FG to order the refund. “This amount alone coming gradually back to the Niger Delta should have shamed the PDP and the likes of Wike and would have armoured the people of the oil region to know who truly loves them and who does not.
“The United Nations through the UNEP carried out a detailed study of the environment of the Ogoni as stepping stone to that of the entire Niger Delta. In November 1911, such an important global organ issued a Report with an order to dedicate $1Bn to start clean up of Ogoni land.
“The PDP and a son of the Niger Delta killed that report and released no dime. The APC and President Buhari came and launched the difficult clean up and so far released $400m (N154Bn).
“It is sad that those who did these evils and more are same people daily writing off the APC-led FG and President Buhari.
“The gateway to the eastern economy”, Eze reasoned “is the Second Niger Bridge that would help the old bridge to pass hundreds of thousands of hauled goods per day; just as the backbone of any national economy is a railway network which the FG APC is pursuing with a single-minded determination and dedication”, the APC chieftain added.
According to Eze, millions of people have been lifted from the labour market and meaningfully engaged in direct and indirect jobs initiated through thoughtful and people-oriented public programmes in the quest to fight poverty and improve livelihoods, stressing that the Buhari administration plays down talking and concentrates more on practical actions.
The party chieftain reminded Gov. Wike that the federal government has attracted unprecedented development to Rivers State through the Transportation Minister, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who has continued to receive national and international medals for his towering achievements in modern rail development, ports expansion and improved maritime security.
The eastern ports were ignored all the years that the PDP even with a Port Harcourt boy was President and a Rivers man was minister of Transportation. Now, the eastern ports are booming as confirmed by industry insiders and Onne port has been opened up to admit more goods.
Just last Saturday, the Nigerian Ports Authority announced the successful berthing of the biggest container vessel to ever call at any Nigerian port; the Maerskline Stardelhorn vessel with Length overall of 300 metres and width of 48 metres which was received at the Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT), Onne in Rivers State at 1620 hours on Saturday, August 15, 2020.The vessel, which has a capacity of 9,971(TEUs) is a flagship from Singapore.
Eze tackled Gov. Wike for stating that, “No governor has ever done what I’m doing now in Rivers State” as containing some truth as the fact remains that no governor in the annals of Rivers State has taken the State backwards the way Governor Wike has done.
Said he, “Today, Wike has stifled development in Rivers State and denied the people their due in his very thoughtless, parochial and anti-people approach to politics, the huge monthly allocation and internally generated revenue, notwithstanding.
The party chief said it is strikingly bizarre and a position lacking in every economic sense for the governor to give a thought to borrowing a whopping N18 billion to build an overhead bridge.
Describing the decision as below every standard of human intelligence, Eze counselled Gov. Wike to rethink his decision and channel the loan to economically viable projects, such that could create jobs, provide opportunities and improve the economy of Rivers State.
The mere fact that the first three flyovers were awarded at N7Bn each only for the last two to be N18Bn and N15Bn each shows that something is wrong, Eze alerted.
