Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that politicians were exerting pressure on the National Assembly to hurriedly pass the N500billion Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) 2023 budget ahead of the general election.
\nBearing this in mind, Wike expressed doubt over the capability of the 2023 NDDC budget before the National Assembly to address development issues in the region.
\nWike made the remarks when the Senior Vice Chairman\/Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Azu Ishiekwene led a delegation of the management of Leadership Newspaper Group Limited to the Government House, Port Harcourt, last Monday, to present a nomination letter of award to him as the \u201cPolitician of the Year 2022.\u201d
\nAlso, the delegation of Sun Newspaper Publishing Limited, led by the Managing Director\/Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Onuohia Ukah, presented a letter of nomination of award of \u201cCourage in Leadership 2022\u201d.
\nWike revealed that within the total estimate of N500billion, N70billion was expected from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), N4billion earmarked for distilling of public drains, and N60billion earmarked as support to security agencies.
\nThe Rivers State governor said a critical look at the details of the various estimate reveals that it was fraudulent budget.
\nWike said it was laughable to see a development agency like NDDC earmarking N4billion to clean public drains when it was supposed to attend to strategic development issues in the region.
\nHe queried why the NDDC would earmark N60billion to security agencies and not devote it to doing an enduring project and see the derivable impact.
\nWike claimed that politicians were already mounting pressure on the National Assembly members to speedily pass the NDDC budget so that it can be shared in lieu of the 2023 general election that was approaching.
\nSpeaking further, Wike lamented that it was becoming almost difficult to see people standing on the side of truth whether it benefits them or not.
\nWike remarked that issues of payment of staff and sundry matters created some problems within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the party lost the 2015 general election.
\nHe explained that while those who didn\u2019t wish PDP well were vehement on their agenda to collapse the party, he and a few others stood up for the party, ensured that it was not killed, and were described as the pillars of the PDP.
\nNow, Wike noted that there were hired boys who have been commissioned to attack him and label him as a destroyer of the party because he was speaking up for fairness, justice and equity.
\nWike insisted that he cannot be destroying a party that he had contributed so much to build.
\nThe governor also stated, however, that he cannot be in a house he had built and allow armed robbers to take it over.
\nWike recalled that PDP presidential primary was fraudulently organised.
\nHe said the organisers allowed an aspirant to return to the podium to do campaign when voting process had started.
\nAccording to him, if the aspirant was allowed to make announcement that he was stepping down, there won\u2019t have been problem, but rather instructed delegates on who to vote.
\nThese were the same people, he stressed, that frustrated the recommendation for zoning of PDP presidential ticket.
\nHe said no amount of blackmail can deter him from standing for the truth, based on equity, fairness and justice, that the national chairmanship of the PDP should be filled by a southerner.
\nWike challenged anybody to point to any benefit, in terms of projects, that Rivers State has got for its support to the PDP since 1999.
\nAccording to Wike, let those who say they have capacity to effect national change when elected, to first demonstrate such ability within the party.
\nThe governor explained how he was not one of those politicians who run around party candidates to get relevance, because it was one\u2019s contribution in the state and not Abuja that gives such relevance.
\nWike said he had between 2019 and now, built 12 flyovers; spent over N17billion to build the Dr. Nabo Graham Douglas Campus of the Nigerian Law School, completed within 10 months; adding that those who opposed it were scrambling to get space for their wards to be admitted.
\nThe Rivers State governor urged the Nigeria media to be forthright, diligently oversight public officers and criticise them so that society can become better.
\nWike said the award they have given to him, which he dedicated to God and Rivers people, would spur his administration to do more.
\nHe explained that the major problem in Nigeria was not availability of money, but leadership that can stand on truth to promote it and be empathetic towards building a virile society that offer good life to the citizenry.
\nSpeaking for the management of Leadership Newspaper Group Limited, Senior Vice Chairman\/Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Azu Ishiekwene, said Wike was nominated as the \u201cPolitician of the Year 2022\u201d, because his activities have consequential impact on Nigerians.
\nIshiekwene noted that Wike restored the Garden City status of Port Harcourt, made it a city of bridges, empowered women with the law that makes them inherit husband\u2019s property, and stood for justice.
\nOn his part, the Managing Director\/Editor-in-Chief of Sun Newspaper Publishing Limited, Mr. Onuohia Ukah, said Wike was awarded \u201cCourage in Leadership 2022\u201d because despite hard economic recession, he had delivered soul-lifting projects for Rivers people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that politicians were exerting pressure on the National Assembly to hurriedly pass the N500billion Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) 2023 budget ahead of the general election. Bearing this in mind, Wike expressed doubt over the capability of the 2023 NDDC budget before the National Assembly to address […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[688],"class_list":["post-311757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-front-pix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=311757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311760,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311757\/revisions\/311760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/256526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=311757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=311757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=311757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}