Assistant Editor (South South), JOE EZUMA, looks at the unending rivalry between Rivers State chapters of PDP and APC, even on issues of infrastructure development of the state.
In apparent bid to break from the immediate past administration in Rivers State, the governor, Nyesom Wike, appears to be shifting emphasis from projects initiated by his predecessor that he does not consider of value to the state. He is rather focusing on those he believes are close to the heart of the people.
This is even as the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state accuses the governor of witch-hunt, blackmail and insincerity.
The emphasis by the Wike administration from inception has been on provision of affordable housing, electricity, water, food and completion of economically-relevant projects such as roads, bridges and power.
In this instance, the governor has promised completion of the Trans-Kalabari Road and bridges which have lingered from the period of Governors Peter Odili, through Celestine Omehia to Chibuike Amaechi.
Trans-Kalabri Road was envisioned to link the many fishing, farming and oil-bearing communities of the state to the metropolitan markets.
‘’This government is resolved, not only to make Rivers State the investors’ haven but also to develop the youths to realise their full potential as future leaders,” the government had declared through the deputy governor, Mrs. Ipalibo Banigo. Supporters of the government count the statement as an indication that the new administration is focused and proactive.
Critics, however, argue that some of its actions, especially those seen to be targeted at correcting the perceived mistakes of its predecessor, were exuberant, vengeful and punitive.
At the swearing-in of Wike on May 29, 2015, he was confronted with incidences of looted government property and vandalised State House, empty treasury, unpaid workers’ salaries and pensions, haphazard employment portfolio, mounting refuse heaps arising from collection contractors being owed by the Amaechi administration, abandoned or uncompleted road and bridge projects, among others.
Wike goes borrowing
Alarmed at the development, in addition to the claim that his predecessor did not formally hand over to him, Wike approached the state legislature for approval of initial N10 billion loan and later another N20 billion loan to get off board. The loans, he said, were to complete road projects which were stalled because the contractors were being owed, and payment of salary arrears. Some of the roads to be rehabilitated, he said, were in Port Harcourt metropolis: Diobu, Ogbunabali, Obi Wali, Ohiamini, part of Woji and Evoh, Traffic Light, including completion of the Ilabuchi Eagle Island by-pass and the Abonema Bridge.
The governor said that the Monier Construction Company (MCC), the firm that was doing some of the key road projects, had been having problem with the previous government, but that his administration had been able to persuade the company to mobilise to site by coming to terms with its managers.
‘’Considering the number of years that MCC had stopped working on some of the projects, the state government may have to pay more through variation; so finding a middle ground with the company was less painful.
“We have reached an agreement on some abandoned road projects, and the company has agreed to go back to site. More importantly, the loan becomes more an easy option because there are some roads that we agreed should be completed because of their economic importance to the people of the state,” Wike said.
He gave hints on how he intended to repay the loans. ‘’We used our VAT (value-added tax) as collateral. What do we collect as VAT? At the average, Rivers State collects N900 million monthly. We asked the bank to collect N500 million monthly, which is 16 per cent of the loan, leaving us N400 million with which to function. The loan of N10 billion is for a period of 20 months. We also intend to complete road projects awarded by the previous government which we consider beneficial to the people of Rivers State.”
The governor, in addition, launched out in what was described as a wave of populist pronouncements and actions. He had, for example, assured the people that his administration would strive to complete projects initiated by his predecessor which are well conceived, since, according to him, ‘’government is a continuum’’.
He also announced the recall of the sacked Rivers State University of Science And Technology (RSUST) lecturers whose salaries were withheld for nearly two years, and directed the payment of their salaries arrears. He dissolved the boards of the state Civil Service Commission, the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, the state College of Arts and Science, and sacked some lecturers of Rivers State Polytechnic (RIVPOLY), Bori.
Wike also disbanded the Rivers State Traffic Management Authority, popular known as TIMARIV – an action that earned him applause, in some quarters, given that activities of the outfit, as well as its counterpart in the State Urban Renewal Authority and the Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and others, had been considered highly repressive by some residents of the state.
He further set up judicial commission of inquiry to look into the last 18 months of Amaechi’s administration, especially in the sale of strategic industries and properties of the state.
Re-engineering Rivers
The administration has also refocused the rural development strategy of the previous administration to a system by which communities in the state are to enjoy a new empowerment programme that will boost equitable economic growth.
The new initiative designed to diversify the economy is a collaborative effort between the state government, Niger Delta Partnership Initiative (NDPI) and Partnerships Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND).
Banigo, who represented Wike at a Niger Delta Development Forum in London, in pursuit of the vision, unfolded the idea behind the agenda.
“Objectives of the forum was to evaluate the risks and opportunities of doing business in the area as well as lessen the region’s dependence on oil and gas by establishing a diversified economy,” she said, noting that easy access to justice remained a fundamental thrust of the administration.
Amaechi, APC kick
But the former governor and his party, APC, in the state would not have any of these. For instance, while Amaechi disputed the allegation that he did not give hand-over notes to Wike, he accused the governor of witch-hunt. APC particularly alleged that claims of meeting an empty treasury by Wike was to lay foundation for justifying incessant borrowing and create room for embezzlement by the administration.
Amaechi had explained that the hand-over notes were prepared by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) from the notes of the permanent secretaries, adding that he had directed his then deputy, Tele Ikuru, to oversee the process.
APC added that Wike is playing ‘dirty’ because he knows that the election petition tribunal will soon send him packing.
