A House of Representatives member representing Abua/ Ahoada-East federation constituency, Solomon Bob, has said Rivers State is safe for Federal projects.
Bob, while reacting to a statement credited to Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, who reportedly said in a television interview that Rivers was not being considered for Federal projects, such as the on-going construction of rail lines, due to insecurity, said available statistics shows that Rivers “is safer than most states and is certainly safer than Kaduna and Lagos”.
He said Federal projects were ongoing in states with more security challenges than Rivers.
“There are other epicentres of mayhem and deaths to which the Federal Government, in which the minister serves, is allocating projects and committing enormous resources daily,” he said.
The lawmaker said the purported claim that Rivers is unsafe “is untrue and an improbable excuse not supported by facts”.
He urged Amaechi to bring development to his state, despite being in a different party with the governor.
He said the minister should not “use his clout to lead a campaign to de-market and impoverish his own state”.
The lawmaker said Amaechi should rather promote and sell Rivers to the Federal Government and the investing public.
“No other minister is consciously selling his or her state short for domestic political reasons,” Bob added.
