A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has accused the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, of frustrating genuine development efforts aimed at leveraging opportunities to transform Rivers State into an ambitious economic hub for the rest of Africa.
Eze said while other state governments are striving to implement measures to meet the yearnings of their people, especially given the bad economic situation of the country, Rivers State is instead embroiled in an unnecessary superiority brawl instigated by the FCT Minister, who is relying on support from the Presidency.
In October 2023, the multi-billion naira Rivers State House of Assembly complex was razed by fire, allegedly caused by suspected arsonists loyal to the FCT Minister who threw an explosive into the complex around 9:25 pm.
The incident allegedly aimed to pressure the President to declare a state of emergency on the pretext that the state is enmeshed in a violent crisis that has overwhelmed its security architecture.
According to Eze, “The state government has committed to rebuild the complex with a substantial amount of money, funds that could have been channeled to other meaningful ventures beneficial to the people had there been peace.”
In a statement made available to NewsNow on Monday, Eze said economists have revealed through in-depth research that Rivers State has lost public sector investments worth over N2 trillion due to the endless political crisis.
The statement noted that this figure is separate from the cumulative impact of raw figures denied to the oil-rich state and the positive effects the projects would have had on the local economy and state GDP.
He pointed out that while Lagos State is issuing bond after bond, Rivers State is resorting to loan repayments from commercial banks by the immediate past administration, which had nothing to show for the borrowed money.
He said, “During Amaechi’s tenure as governor, the state was entitled to a N375bn (or $250m) World Bank water project that was to transform Port Harcourt into a modern city. Everything was ready, but the office of the Minister of Finance, which was to sign off for its drawdown, was allegedly prevented from signing under Goodluck Jonathan on the prompting of the same Wike, who was then a minister.
“That young man is averse to the development of Rivers State. I can tell you for free. Today, Port Harcourt has remained a borehole city.”
Eze further detailed other abandoned projects, such as the plan to develop a fast-moving transport system known as Monorail with about N250bn, with over N20bn already spent by the state government and most trunks of coaches reportedly already at the Onne Port. The project was abandoned when Wike came to power.
“Port Harcourt, under Amaechi, was designed to be a modern city through the creation of the Greater Port Harcourt City by expanding to eight local councils with modern facilities. The project was to consume N100bn per year for 10 years (N1 trillion), but under Wike, the project suffered what looks like half-hearted status or what many call drain pipes to settle political backers.”