Okenyi Kenechi
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday bought 15 state-of-the-art Toyota Land Cruiser VX and TXL Sports Utility vehicles for lawmakers representing the State at the National Assembly.
This comes as appeals from retired civil servants for the payment of their four years pension arrears and gratuities owed them by the Wike’s administration have not been listened to.
Lucky Ati, spokesman of the pensioners, in a statement last week, regretted that some of them had not received any kobo from the state government since 2015.
“We have written several letters to Governor Nyesom Wike to no avail,” the pensioners said in the statement made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt.
“The administration preceding Wike enacted the contributory pension without preparations and plans for a smooth take-off; this has caused us untold hardship and even deaths,” they said.
Wike is known for his elitist spending and acquiring expensive luxurious vehicles for the elites in government.
The legislature and the judiciary, the two arms that are meant to checkmate him, have become the biggest beneficiaries of his vehicular gifts.
In December 2017, the governor bought 16 expensive land cruiser SUVs for lawmakers representing the state at the National Assembly.
On 24 July 2019, Wike gave out SUVs to 11 newly sworn-in Magistrates.
On December 28, 2019, the governor also bought expensive SUVs for the 32 members of the state house of assembly a day after they passed the 2020 budget.
Early in August 2020, he spent over 1 billion naira to procure 41 state-of-art Land Rover Discovery SUVs for judges.
