Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike says his predecessor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi was more interested in awarding political projects to boost his personal ego than delivering services to Rivers people.
Governor Wike said that a project like Justice Karibi Whyte Hospital was a scam because it gulped $39.9 Million on paper as there is nothing to show at the proposed site.
He added that Amaechi still uses cultists in his hometown and influences the posting of security agents in the state.
According to him, the sum of N65 billion was spent on the 1.2 kilometres Monorail Project which was conceived as a white elephant project.
Wike who was responding to statements made by the minister of transportation during the burial of former Supreme Court Justice, Godwin Karibi-Whyte said most of such political projects existed either on the pages of Newspapers or were used to settle political allies.
Amaechi had lamented the rising spate of insecurity and political intimidation in the state, saying that the state is back to the time of Ateke Tom, the ex-militant who is now the traditional head of Okochiri town.
According to him: “You have lost your voice. The sage has gone under and nobody is speaking. When I was Governor, I gave people voices, but they have blocked those voices.
“I was happy with the sermon, the Bishop indicted us. If you are a Governor, have you governed well? If you are a politician, have you carried your people along?
“Everyone is scared. We are going back to when Ateke held sway. We are going back to the period where we run away from our people. We are back to a period when nobody can speak. But from next year, I will begin to speak, if nobody wants to speak”.
But the Governor said that Amaechi and his political allies after siphoning huge sums of money from the State left behind uncompleted projects.
“Amaechi does not have the moral ground to talk about development in the State when he wasted so many financial resources on non-existing projects.
“Go round the State, you will never see anything that looks like Justice Karibi -Whyte Hospital. It is a scam that never existed.
“Again, tell me what is the traffic along Azikwe Road that a 1.2 kilometres Monorail Project will be awarded for over 65 Billion Naira.
“When I came into office, I was told that it will cost about 30 Billion Naira to complete that project. If I have such money, I will build more infrastructure across the State.
“His Economic Advisory Council led by Prof. Nimi Briggs published a document. The records covered the activities of his administration from 2007 to 2014.
“On education, the council recorded that 485 primary schools were proposed for construction. Some existing old schools were demolished when they required rehabilitation.
“Work actually started on 478 schools but only 116 schools were completed across the State. Amaechi also awarded 15 Modern Secondary Schools for 15 Local Government Areas at over Four Billion Naira each. Only the Ambassador Nne Krukrubo School in Eleme Local Government was completed and functional before he left office”, he stated.
The Governor noted that Amaechi was a self-seeking leader who paraded himself as one that knows it all.
Governor Wike said there are foremost schools that had produced prominent Nigerians in the State that should have been rehabilitated but he abandoned them to embark on the abandoned projects.
He stated that unlike Amaechi that kills dreams and projects of other people, he voted money to complete road projects his predecessor initiated.
The Governor also berated Amaechi for saying that there is insecurity in Rivers State when he is the one who determines heads of security agencies that should be posted to the State.
“Rivers State is safer than any other State. See what is happening in Bornu, Kaduna and Plateau States where bandits have taken over their areas.
“When Amaechi was Governor, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC was chased away because of insecurity. But they are here now, constructing roads all over the State without fear.
“Amaechi’s hometown, Ubima is a place you have a large number of cultists that he uses. The heads of security agencies he influences their postings, come here and see the reality on ground that the State is safe,” he added.
