Fubara differs as APC says first-year performance woeful
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has disagreed with Governor Siminalayi Fubara over his comments that he was in charge of governance of the state for only four months.
The main opposition party described Fubara’s assertion as a contradiction, wondering if he executed the projects he unveiled to mark his first anniversary in office in only four months.
The APC was reacting to Fubara’s remarks that he did not take charge of governance in Rivers State until February this year, despite being in office since May 2023, alluding tangentially to the crisis between him and his predecessor and estranged political godfather, Nyesom Wike.
But at a press briefing on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the Chairman of the Rivers APC Caretaker Committee, Chief Tony Okocha, said Fubara’s statement was a confession that all the projects he inaugurated to his mark his first year in office were done during the immediate-past administration of Wike.
Okocha, who scored Fubara low on performance, he said the only achievement of the incumbent administration was thanksgiving of his victory at the Supreme Court across the 23 local government areas of the state which gulped huge public funds.
The APC leader said, “The administration of Rivers State under Governor Siminalayi Fubara is a sham. Take it on a ratio of one to 10, he got minus zero. In other words, it is apt to say that we have relapsed into a state of primitive administration in our political history.
“There is nothing to show and I challenge the governor and his goons to show one proof of a project that he initiated, commenced and completed in 364 days.
“The moment I hear or see that, I will immediately recant or withdraw and then publicly congratulate him. I still challenge him to point out one project he initiated and completed. Does he compare with his other brothers?
“I will look at the performance of first-time governors. Take a typical look of Abia State Governor. Take a critical look at Akwa Ibom and also look at Ebonyi State Governor. Take the case of Anambra and Enugu states. Then take a look at the far North, Niger State and juxtaposed the achievement of Sim Fubara and compare with what is going on in Rivers State. “Then I asked the governor a question, he (Fubara) said he celebrated 365 days in office. But he was the one who said some days ago that he had only been in office for four months. So what contradiction is that?”
Okocha said it was clear that Fubara only celebrated “projects initiated by the previous administration,” saying the governor “rose on the plan of continuity and consolidation.”
But in a swift reaction, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, described the claim by the opposition party as unfortunate.
Johnson said, “It is quite unfortunate that Chief Tony Okocha is still living in the past. The first project we inaugurated, the Eteo-Ebubu, the old Bori Road inaugurated by the Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti; we awarded the contract for that project on August 14, 2023 and it was to be completed in eight months. It has been delivered.
“The Andoni section of the Ogoni/Andoni/Opobo Unity Road was awarded by the Siminalayi Fubara administration and inaugurated. Today we can drive to Ngo Town in Andoni.
“The Trans-Kalabari Road, which is the heaviest, was awarded for the sum of N225bn. It was flagged off by His Excellency the former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. And that is the main Trans-Kalabari Road. That project will be completed in 32 months and we have already paid 30 per cent of the value.”
The commissioner said Fubara had completed most of the projects flagged off by his predecessor, Wike, saying “ Some were awarded in the months that he (Wike) was leaving and zero kobo was paid.
“The one I’m talking about is the construction of Rumeprikom internal road and drains phase 2, plot 1, which is the hometown of the former governor. He awarded that project on the 13th of March to be completed in four months.
“He (Wike) didn’t pay a kobo. We have paid 91 per cent of the contract value and we are at 95 per cent completion. The cost is N2.2bn.”
On the allegations of N150 million deployed for thanksgiving in the 23 LGAs of the state, Johnson said none of thanksgiving was at the behest of the state government.
“The one we held in St Paul’s Anglican Church, Garrison in Port Harcourt was the only one done in commemoration of our one year in office. We did not have any hand in any of the thanksgiving held anywhere,” he said.
