Tony Okocha, the Rivers State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the state governor, Sim Fubara of spending the funds meant for development on thanksgiving.
Okocha made the accusation on Tuesday in Port Harcourt while briefing newsmen on the state of development in Rivers in the last 10 months of Fubara’s administration.
Okocha stated that the APC in Rivers had come to a conclusion that Fubara’s administration was “visionless”.
“The governor is busy spending money on thanksgiving in all the local government areas of the state.
“We are here to condemn in absolute terms, the inactivity of this government; the governor is meant to consolidate on the road plan of his predecessors, but we have seen that 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,
” Okocha said.
On the economic hardship witnessed in the country, the state APC Chair explained that the hardship was a global phenomenon and not as a result of leadership failure.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu was eager to bring Nigerians out of suffering, just as he demonstrated political will and removed 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 governments 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, therefore, called on the governor to ensure that he conducts local government elections as enshrined in the constitution.
He also enjoined him 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.
