The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has accused the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, of terminating the employment of 10,000 youths that his administration employed towards the end of his administration.
Wike, who made this allegation on Wednesday at Ahoada main town, when he led the Renewed Hope Family on a “Thank you” visit to Ahoada East Local Government Area, equally accused Fubara of taking credit for some of his projects.
Wike, his administration deliberately invested in youth employment and critical infrastructure to reposition Rivers State as one of the most respected states in the federation.
He claimed that Fubara took the credit for major road projects his own administration started in Ahoada and Emohua Local Government Areas in order to deny him his legacy.
Wike also claimed that some projects that were substantially funded before he left office were now being publicly claimed by the current administration.
Wike said: “I employed Rivers State youths, 10,000 of them. The person we handed over power to, instead of allowing the 10,000 youths to continue working, cancelled the employment. Ten thousand youths. A bad child is a bad child…
“When I decided to dualise this Ahoada road, people thought it was impossible. But today, Ahoada East and Ahoada Town are coming back to be the cities they are supposed to be.”
Wike noted that before leaving office, his administration completed Phase One of the Ahoada road dualisation and flagged off Phase Two, which would extend to Omoku, adding that the Emohua–Kalabari Road project was also awarded around the same period.
“The job was given to Julius Berger. We signed an agreement for them to collect ₦4 billion every month from our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“The total cost of the Ahoada–Omoku and Emohua–Kalabari roads was over ₦80 billion,” he said.
Wike stated that the payment structure was designed to ensure project completion within two years, adding that on some other road projects, including those handled by Setrako, his administration had already paid about 70 per cent of the contract sum.
“Today, I hear people are making noise. They have forgotten who laid the foundation. What is continuity?” Wike queried.
“When I handed over, I said, ‘See where I stopped; please continue with this programme that will make our state one of the most respected in this country.’
When I was governor, Nigeria respected Rivers State. I don’t know what it is today,” he said.
At the event, the leader of the Renewed Hope Family in Ahoada and Chairman of the South-South Development Commission (SSDC), Rt. Hon. Chibudom Nwuche, pledged to deliver Ahoada for President Tinubu and the Renewed Hope political structure.
