Fubara Restates Commitment To Transparency In Governance

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared that his administration will remain focused and committed to delivering democratic dividends in the State despite the deliberate distractions from some quarters.
Addressing the leadership and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts during a courtesy visit at Government House in Port Harcourt, last Friday, Governor Fubara said the major concern of his administration was to deploy the scarce resources of the State to better the lives and wellbeing of the people.
The governor recalled that when he was appointed the Accountant General in 2020, the public accounting reporting position of the State changed for the best because he understood the numbers and how to clearly present the details.
The governor said the prudent management of the commonwealth of the State has impacted the economy positively, shoring up the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state, which is used for effective project delivery, without recourse to borrowing.
He pointed out that, “As an organised government, when we came on board, we met a very big challenge. For 11 years, there was no promotion in the State Civil Service. So, imagine a government that inherited about 52,000 civil servants, and you want to pay them for years that they had been denied their dues.
“What we were paying before I came in was an average of N5.3billion. Let us even do 25 percent of it: it can’t be anything less than 8 point something billion that we are doing now. That was what we started paying.
“How much is our allocation? So, we needed to think outside the box. That was where we now did a rejig of our Internally Generated Revenue. And I can tell you today that all the projects we are doing, we don’t borrow,” he said.
According to Governor Fubara, education, health-care and agriculture will continue to receive priority attention by his administration in addition to developing other critical sectors of the economy.
“Education is the only instrument we can use to fight social vices. And we need quality healthcare. You need to be alive to even drive a good car on the roads. You can imagine how much we spend on medical tourism.
“Then, agriculture: we have to ensure food security and sufficiency. We have to feed ourselves to tame hunger. So, those are the targets of this Government.”
On his part, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Hon Bamidele Salam, said they were in the State for the first retreat of the committee.
Hon Salam explained that they chose the State because it is peaceful, and has a Governor who understands what governance truly means and has never been distracted by the political crisis confronting his administration.
He commended the Governor for achieving over 26 projects in his first 100 days in office, and urged him to continue to deliver dividends of democracy to Rivers people.
He also urged the Governor to continue to anchor his administration on peace, saying that without peace, there can never be any meaningful development in the State.
Governor Fubara, later on Friday, also hosted members of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee to Investigate the Turnaround Maintenance of Nigeria’s Refineries, led by its Chairman, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who paid him a courtesy visit at Government House in Port Harcourt.
The Governor, who commended the committee for carrying out the important oversight function, said his administration was aligning with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinibu to develop Rivers State and better the lot of the people and compliment the efforts of the President.
“We, as a State, before the commencement of the rehabilitation job, had a contribution that we wanted to make to support the work at the refinery because of the deplorable state of the East-West Road.
“There is a road: Woji-Aleto-Alesa Refinery Road. We are almost completing the bridge. It’s about 70 percent completed. We are doing almost the last part of it. With that road, it will help to decongest and reduce the trouble commuters face along the East-West Road while providing easy access, straight to the refinery.
“So, you can see that our Government is working in line, supporting the administration of President Bola Tinubu to give our people hope. and assurance that things will soon get better.
“And it is this role that you are playing, genuinely. And with the support of this State Government, that is the only way we can achieve the purpose of governance for everyone.
“When the refinery restarts production, there will be petroleum products available locally. The issue of importation will go down. We will now make impact, economy will grow, internally generated revenue will increase. More projects will be executed in this State. You can see that it’s a chain effect thing. So, I want to thank you”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of the Committee, Senator Uba, said the visit to Port Harcourt was a follow up to the earlier visit to Warri Refinery to assess the level of work done ahead of planned recommencement of operation of both the old and new refineries.
The Rivers State Executive Council, on Wednesday, gave approval to the State Government to spend the sum of N6.7billion for the reconstruction of the 5-kilometre long Okania-Ogbogoro Road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
The approval was given at the Council’s 7th meeting, presided over by Governor Fubara, with the Deputy Governor, Prof Ngozi Odu, and other members of the cabinet in attendance.

By: Taneh Beemene