The governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike received the first shock in his romance with the All Progressives Congress (APC) when the visiting president-elect, Mr. Bola Tinubu, rejected his request to refund the money he spent on federal roads in the state.
Tinubu was on a two-day visit to the state during which he commissioned some projects.
While giving a speech at the inauguration of the Rumuokwuta/Rumuola Flyover performed by Tinubu yesterday, the governor appealed to the president-elect to refund to Rivers State the money spent on all the federal roads in the state.
He requested the Tinubu-led federal government to do the refund to his successor, Mr. Siminialaye Fubara.
The governor said a letter requesting for the refund had already been prepared for the incoming governor which he will sign on assumption of office on May 29 and asked Tinubu to approve the refund.
“Part of why we are having uncompleted projects has to do with our procurement laws. If you follow the procurement law, it will take very long to complete projects.
“How much does the procurement law, I mean for federal, say, 15 to 30 per cent (mobilisation)? When you give a contractor 15 per cent, inflation is rising almost every day. Before you give another money they will call for variation because of the increasing cost of materials.
“In our case, I call Mr. Speaker, to say we can’t continue with this. We had to amend our procurement law to give us the latitude to pay 70 per cent to a company we know has the capacity to deliver within time.
“That is why today, no project being handled by Julius Berger is uncompleted. We are dualising Ahoada to Omoku to Egbema to our boundary with Imo State. Julius Berger is doing that work. We are also dualising from Emohua, East West to Degema Junction, also by JB.
“How much did they charge us? About N80 billion. We fall back on our Internally Generated Revenue, to say every month, take N4 billion, and finish this road in 18 months. That is why we have never failed in completing our projects.
“Unfortunately, these projects are federal roads. We don’t want our people to suffer. I believe federal government should say let us refund these monies. I assure you, as you enter the office and approve to pay these monies back other states will also do the same thing. So that (refund) is the first request we are making to you.
“The governor-elect is here. As I leave office, I will sign all that is required and he will simply pass the papers to you. That will be one of the first things you do when you are sworn in as president on May 29,” Wike stated.
In no-holds barred response to the request, Tinubu said: “The demand you made for refund, I owe you nothing; it’s your road. “You can’t chuckle at me and make a demand. You are the one using the road. I commend your effort. You have to lobby me to collect,” he said.
Nevertheless, the president-elect commended Wike for making Rivers people happy with his developmental strides.
“Nyesom, as you make people create excitement and development across this state; we have something to look forward to for Nigeria. You and I will discuss that not expected debt,” he added.
He described the governor as a dependable ally, who was ever ready to pursue a just cause in the national interest.
Tinubu expressed joy that he commissioned the projects, in fulfilment of his earlier promise to Wike during the presidential campaign rally in the state.
He recalled the gruesome campaign he went through to emerge president-elect in the February 25 election.
“The newly elected governor of Rivers State, I am very happy to meet you. The newly elected House of Representatives members and senators that will be collaborating with me in Abuja, if you talk of character, you can well say that Governor Wike is very dependable.
“I am a very happy man because I went through a gruesome campaign, fought hard, supported by many of you and I won. To my victory, I couldn’t have done it without some structural support describable in a flyover.
“In His Excellency, I see a man of principle, he took a principled stand that the presidency must return to South and he has the courage to stand by his conviction, not minding whose ox is gored. Nyesom is a real man of integrity, not about him, rather, the interest of the nation, and you promoted unity.
“There was so much gossip and speculation, but you stood your ground and found the construction of this flyover and my invitation to commission this project today is another way of building bridges, which cannot be overstated in Nigeria. So, it’s on the strength of your character I stand to fulfil my promise I made during the campaign,” Tinubu said.
