Dakuku Peterside, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has said that governor Nyesom Wike practices ‘breast pocket’ governance.
The former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, said that the flyovers being constructed by Wike has no bearing on the local economy.
According to him, only Wike is the beneficiary of the flyovers his administration is constructing, adding that Julius Berger which is in charge of the projects does not sublet contracts to any indigenous firms.
He said “The flyovers have no linkage with the local economy. No local person is employed. Only one person is benefitting from the flyover and that is Nyesom Wike”
On security, he said that Rivers State is the most endangered state in the country. He said Wike has received 2.4 trillion in 6 years and has not done anything with it.
Dakuku stressed that data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS showed that Rivers is the eighth-most security challenged in the South.
“American embassy issues security alert and Rivers is the number one. It is the lockdown mentality where the governor locks down the state at any instance of security challenges.
“Wike lacks a clear vision on how to deal with the security issues but looking for who to blame. There is no vision on how to tackle security issues in the state. We locked down our minds, and we can’t think”.
On inflation, he said that there is a macroeconomy and micro-economy effect. He noted that unemployment is attributed to the micro and macroeconomy.
“Rivers has the highest unemployment rate. There is no local industry. The state government is not building industries. It is also not attracting investments, no investment flows to the state. There has been no foreign direct investment in the state in 6 years.
“The state government is also not creating employment. The environment is not conducive for investment because of the insecurity and the policy of the government. The state is not competitive, not putting policies in place, not attracting investors”
The former gubernatorial candidate said he was part of those who proposed the Petroleum Industry Bill as a private member Bill in 2011.
According to him, their proposal was 10 percent for host communities adding that there was a concensus at then.
He said that it was disheartening that it has been reduced to 3 per cent, adding that most Legislatures do not understand the impact of oil exploration in the communities.
On the 30 percent frontiers basins, he said it was counterproductive. He added that there is nowhere state funds exploration of crude oil in the frontiers. “3 percent is against natural justice and against everything he represents,” he added.
