The FCT Minister alongside the factional speaker of the state house of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and his stranded compadres, are constituting themselves into the foremost cogs hindering the wheel of progress in Rivers state – Eze C. Eze
Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze alleges that the minister of F.C.T, Nyesom Wike has continued to put in limbo, genuine development efforts targeted at leveraging available opportunities to transform Rivers State into an ambitious economic hub for the rest of Africa.
According the APC chieftain, while other state governments are striving to put measures in place to ensure that the yearnings of their people are met, especially given the unpleasant economic situation prevailing in the country, Rivers State is rather plummeting, due to an unnecessary contest of superiority, instigated on the prompting of the FCT Minister who is banking on the support of the Presidency.
Chief Eze alleged that around October of 2023, the multi-billion Naira Rivers State House of Assembly complex was razed by a fire, caused by arsonists, suspected to be loyalist of the FCT Minister, who threw an explosive into the complex around 9.25pm. He claimed that the incident came as a result of an alleged plot to stampede the President into declaring a state of emergency in the state on the deceptive grounds that the state is enmeshed in a violent crisis that has overwhelmed the security apparatuses. “Today, the state government has committed to rebuild the complex with a whole lot of money. This is money that would have been channeled to other meaningful venture beneficial to the people had peace been allowed to reign”, Eze surmised.
In a statement made available to the media, Eze stated that, in-depth research conducted by season economists have revealed that Rivers state have lost public sector investments worth over N2 trillion as a result of the endless political crisis engulfing the state. That figure is different from the cumulative effect of the raw figures of investible money that has been denied the oil-rich state, and the impact the projects missed would have made on the local economy and the state’s GDP.
He said whereas Lagos State is taking bond after bond to spur development, Rivers State is consigned to the repayment of loans taken from commercial banks by the immediate past administration, with nothing to show for the borrowed money.
Eze recalled that during Rotimi Amaechi’ tenure as Governor, the state was entitled to N375bn (or $250m) World Bank water project that was to transform Port Harcourt into a modern city. Everything was said to have been perfected for the drawdown of the funds, but the office of the Federal Minister of Finance under the Goodluck Jonathan’s PDP presidency, that was to sign off on the scheme, was allegedly prevented from doing so on the prompting of the same Wike who was then a cabinet minister.
“That young man is averse to the development of Rivers State. I can tell you for free. To day Port Harcourt has remained a borehole city.” Chief Eze bemoaned, as he Listed more damning instances of Wike’s disruptive deeds.
“Another project was the plan to develop the state capital through a fast-moving transport system known as Monorail, worth about N250bn, with over N20bn already spent by the state government, and with most of the rail coaches said to have been already shipped to the Onne Port. The project was abandoned when Wike came to power.”
“Port Harcourt, under Amaechi, was planned to be a modern city through the creation of the Greater Port Harcourt City; by expanding it into eight local councils, each of which would be provided 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 piping” to settle political backers”.
“Amaechi conceptualized an idea to create an agro-village in Etche LGA, in partnership with an Israeli consortium, messrs LR of Israel. The design was there, talks for funding had reached advanced stage, but the moment Amaechi left office and Wike took over, the project meant to create an integrated agricultural system in Rivers State died a sudden death ”.
“What about the Rivers Songhai Farm Initiative (RSFI) which was 20 times the size of the original copy in Benin Republic. That project gulped over N3.6bn and was put for acquisition because it was becoming very viable. John Deer of California was said to have emerged preferred bidder. They were said to have planned to use Rivers state as the center of their tractor manufacturing business in West Africa, but had to delay in sealing the deal as they waited to see how the 2015 succession exercise would play out in Rivers State . Songhai would have been an integrated farm center for Africa as well as a tractor and farm implementation automation center. Unfortunately, Wike’s hateful politics killed it”.
All of these projects are what Gov. Fubara have in mind to revive, but Wike has continued to use the crisis he instigated to distract the young man. And the President has failed to call him to order.
So, part of the economic consequences of the crisis is the delay in reviving these economically viable projects that would create jobs and put food on the tables of Rivers people, especially during this season of economic drought.
“Chief Eze further stated that, regardless of the fact that they have lost their seats and coupled with the ruling of a court directing the Attorney General to inhibit them from embarking on any dealing in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly, former Speaker, Martin Amaewhule and his group have continued to demonstrate willingness to continue to be used as tools to distract Gov. Siminialayi Fubara, with assurances of support from the Presidency.
Martins Amaewhule and his jobless co-travelers in their new capacity as intakes of Nollywood (Africa Magic) have, in a bid to continue to perpetuate the crisis at the pleasure of the FCT Minister, gone to the extent of using the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly to draft a letter allegedly stopping Gov. Fubara from accessing funds to manage the state.
Describing the action as the height of impunity, Eze said it has become expedient to invite the Nigerian Police to wade into the political exuberance of Amaewhule and co who are falsely impersonating the Rivers State legislature in the pursuit of the private, selfish interest, of the FCT Minister who obviously does not mean well for the state and her people.
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is a member of APC Legacy Projects Media Team & former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct nPDP