Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has commended the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law while declaring the allocation of a meagre 3 per cent for host communities in the Niger Delta unacceptable.
Speaking with Channels Television on Tuesday, Governor Wike bemoaned the exclusion of oil-producing state governments in the implementation and administration of the 3% oil revenue recommended for host communities in the Petroleum Industry Act.
“We believe that 3 per cent is not enough as regards the kind of pollution and environmental crisis we have had because of oil exploitation. I thought what Mr President would have done was to tell members of the National Assembly, yes, you have done what you are supposed, but again, you need to take into consideration the yearnings of the host communities.”
He expressed concern, stating that the International Oil Companies will take advantage of this, by continually racking up crises in oil-producing communities in order not to pay the 3 per cent due to the host communities.
Wike, while speaking on the current crisis in his party noted that the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a result of the incapability of the present National working committee to lead the party to victory in the upcoming general elections.
He said the internal uproar in the party was following the failure of the National working committee to execute its responsibility as an opposition political party effectively while expressing that the party needs a new set of leaders to work, as he maintained that the PDP remains the only credible alternative party that Nigerians are expecting to take over power in 2023, given the failed performance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“If you go to the public and ask Nigerians if PDP is ready to take over power in 2023, if you take referendum, you will know that Nigerians are even waiting for PDP. But the fear of Nigerians is whether PDP is ready to take overpower. So, people are concerned about it. Obviously, it is ripe for PDP to take over, but you must be prepared to take over.
“And we said with what we have now, it will be difficult to take over power in 2023 if there is no amendment. Leadership was the problem. The point is this, the current NWC, as it is today, cannot lead the party to victory. Nobody has said they have not done well, one way or the other, but we are talking about the challenges ahead.
“That is why we are pushing for the party to have other people to lead the party and to give it a different strength altogether. If you know APC, you know that you need a robust, determined leadership of the party (PDP) to make sure you match them word by word, action by action.”
The governor, while dismissing rumours of his intentions to vie for the presidency, stated that his primary preoccupation is to see how the PDP could be better positioned to win the 2023 general elections.
He added that anyone who loves the PDP and means well for the party will adhere to the resolutions reached after the intervention of the governors, Board of Trustees and elders to calm the brewing crisis in the party.
While speaking on the amended Electoral Act, Wike accused the President of supporting the position of APC members in the National Assembly even after attesting to the innovativeness of the card reader device introduced by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, stressing that the electronic transmission of results is at the centre of conducting credible and transparent elections
“Mr President gave Nigerians the assurance that one of the legacies that he will leave is to make sure that we have credible and transparent elections. And one of the steps to show transparency is, let the election results be transmitted electronically.
“You remember when Mr President was declared the winner of that election in 2015, he said that the introduction of the card reader was a good innovation. We thought he would have improved on that. But instead of improving on that, we are going backwards.”
Adding his voice to the ongoing constitutional amendment process, Wike said it is satisfying to know that such function is not an exclusive preserve of the National Assembly.
According to him, Nigerians are very confident in the process because they know that whatever the National Assembly has done, there will be the need to secure a two-third of votes from the 36 State Assemblies.
“But the confidence people have today is that the amendment of the constitution will get to the State. Take for example, the Federal Government may not be in support of state police but you have two-third of states that say they need state police, so in that case, state police will pass. There are issues that you may not like, but these are done on clause by clause basis.”
On the issue of Valued Added Tax, the governor clarified that the Rivers State government went to court to seek constitutional interpretation of the enabling law on whether State or Federal Government should be the sole collector of VAT.
He stressed that the Rivers State government is not disturbed by the decision of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to appeal the Federal High Court judgment which declared that it is unconstitutional for the Federal Government to collect VAT.
