The mounting loans so far taken by Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and alleged plans to take more overdrafts may be the centre point of fireworks between Wike and his opponent from the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dakuku Peterside.
As each contestant positions for the seat of power in the likelihood of a rerun, Peterside, who is backed by ex-governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has fired early shots, accusing Wike of endangering the future of the state through an alleged indiscriminate collection of loans.
Peterside, who made this allegation during the inauguration of ‘The Think Dakuku Project’ in Port Harcourt at the weekend, claimed that Wike had embarked on a borrowing spree without minding the adverse effect of his actions on the state in future.
He specifically accused the governor of borrowing N30 billion without any justification, adding that Wike also wrote Zenith Bank asking for another loan of N15 billion that would be tied to Excess Crude funds accruing to the state.
The APC flag-bearer, who won a petition at the tribunal last week, alleged that the state governor had made another request for N25 billion that would be tied to the internally generated revenue accruing to the state in future.
“In the same September 30, he made another letter to Zenith Bank, asking for N25 billion loan against our internally generated revenue (IGR) that has not been generated. He is taking a loan against IGR. That is another step to mortgage the future of our people,”he said.
Peterside, however, urged the people of the state to always speak out against bad governance in order to prevent their future from being mortgaged.
“What it means is that if he collects this money, even if they share excess crude, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would take your own. It means he has taken the future of our children; he has taken his today, he has eaten his today and eat the future of our children,” he said.
Peterside also decried the dissolution of the State Traffic Management Agency, also known as TIMARIV, adding that Wike had sent over 1,000 persons to the job market with his action. He noted that the level of insecurity in the state had increased under Wike, maintaining that Rivers experiences at least 10 armed robbery and kidnap cases every week.
Reacting, Wike said Peterside lied on the issue of loans, adding that his administration was compelled to take N30 billion because the immediate past APC-led administration left a huge debt for the state before leaving office.
The governor, who spoke through Simeon Nwakaudu, his special assistant on media and publicity, explained that the amount was used to complete abandoned projects, pay backlog of workers’ salaries and pensioners’ pensions.
He said: “Peterside, during his illegal campaign on Saturday, lied about alleged loans he claimed Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike had taken. It is public knowledge that the elected Governor of Rivers State was compelled to take N30 billion loan because the immediate past APC administration in the state crippled her finances, left the state in huge debts with months of unpaid salaries, pensions, unpaid scholarships, abandoned projects and a disillusioned populace.”
“Rivers State APC is living in self-delusion as Governor Wike’s election will be upheld in the course of the appellate process. The commencement of illegal political campaign by the defeated Rivers State APC governorship candidate, Peterside on Saturday is an action in self-delusion as the mandate freely given to Governor Wike by Rivers people will be reaffirmed by the appellate process.
“Indeed, Rivers State is one of the state that did not take the two tranches of the Federal Government bailout due to the governor’s financial prudence and consideration for the future of the state’s economy, while some states took as much as N50 billion to stabilise their economies and struggle towards productivity,” Wike said.
Ignatius Chukwu
