- By Femi Alabi
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State Tony Okocha, has condemned Governor of the State, Siminialayi Fubara for spending frivolously, the money meant for the development of the state.
Okocha while briefing newsmen on the state of development in Rivers, in the last 10 months of Fubara’s administration, he stated that the APC in the State has concluded that the Governor is “visionless”.
He said, “The governor is busy spending money on Thanksgiving in all the local government area of the state.
“We are here to condemn in absolute term, the inactivity of this government; the governor is meant to consolidate on the road plan of his predecessors, but we have seen stoat the governor has derailed from the consolidation plan.
“Government should be about continuity, that is why the current governor of Akwa Ibom continued with the laid down plans of the government.
“The governor of Rivers is completely out of the road plans, apart from the ring road initiated by the former governor Nyesom Wike, there is no other road project initiated in the state by the current administration.
“We need to know what is happening in Rivers state; people are saying, the governor is transforming Songai farm, rehabilitating cassava plant.
“How does that translate to good governance for Rivers people. So, the support is highly orchestrated by the governor himself,”.
On the economic hardship witnessed in the country, he explained that the hardship was a global phenomenon and not as a result of leadership failure.
Okocha noted that President Bola Tinubu is eager to bring Nigerians out of suffering, just as he demonstrated political will by removing the fuel subsidy which he said was “anti-people”.
“The Federal Government added the funds gotten from the removal of subsidy to the states allocation to cushion the effect of hardship.
“This is why states now get not less than 20 billion as their monthly allocation.
“Some state government were busy giving palliatives to people in their states to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy.
“Rivers state is number three in terms of federal allocation, what has the state government done with the funds allocated to it,” he added.
He urged the governor to ensure that he conduct local government election as enshrined in the constitution.
He also urged the governor to constitute the State Executive Council (SEC) and not to run the state single-handedly without the State Assembly because APC members are in majority.