Akwa Ibom State government is to spend N2 billion for the construction of the Governor’s lodge in Lagos and not N9 billion as reported by a section of media particularly social media platforms.
Charles Udoh , commissioner for information and strategy, who gave the clarification while speaking in Uyo, the state capital expressed shock at the “deliberate and malicious attempt to mislead the public by the sponsors of the falsehood,” saying the cost allocated to the proposed lodge in the supplementary budget recently passed by the state assembly is N2billion.
Criticism had greeted the report of a new governor’s lodge at a time funds were needed for the execution of many projects including the payment of pensions and gratuities of retired public sector workers.
Udoh said: “N500m was provided for the project in the 2017 budget and N1.5 billion added in the supplementary budget recently passed by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.”
According to him, it has become imperative to have a befitting governor’s lodge in Lagos being the commercial nerve centre of the country, pointing out that every state in Nigeria and every country that has diplomatic ties with Nigeria maintains reasonable presence in Lagos.
He therefore, wondered why the case of Akwa Ibom should be different. According to the Commissioner, a cost/benefit analysis shows it would be cheaper in the medium to long term to have an ideal state presence in the commercial capital of Nigeria catering for the accommodation and business meeting needs of the state.
He maintained that it would be better to build a befitting Akwa Ibom State Governor’s lodge in Ikoyi; a more serene environment, than commit huge funds into renovating the dilapidated and long abandoned one on Victoria Island, Lagos.
The move away from Victoria Island, according to the Commissioner, “is not peculiar to Akwa Ibom State, as many other states and countries that also had presence on Victoria Island were equally doing so, because of the need to ensure security and serenity around their properties.”
Reiterating the commitment of the present administration to the judicious use of resources, the Commissioner said Governor Emmanuel deserves commendation for never failing to pay salaries of public servants as and when due, and for bringing the state to a level where Akwa Ibom people now enjoy up to 18 hours of public power supply, owing to huge investment in the electricity sector.
Also, to underscore the progress made by the administration in the industrial sector, Udoh mentioned that apart from his laudable initiatives of leading Akwa Ibom State into a new era of agricultural prosperity, Governor Udom Emmanuel has defied all odds to attract huge volumes of foreign direct investment to the state and provide the enabling environment for these investments to thrive. This fact was attested to in the 2017 National Bureau of Statistics Report that listed Akwa Ibom as the 2nd largest destination of foreign direct investment in Nigeria in 2016. Additionally, government has set up a Syringe factory that is set to become the largest in Africa when it comes on stream in September 2017.
Udoh advised the public to be wary of believing every information put out in the media, especially by self-acclaimed citizen journalists, who lack rudimentary journalistic trainings that emphasise truth and adequate verification of information before giving them out to the public.
He cautioned those who always want to play politics with the aim of thwarting the noble intentions of the governor to desist from such, but rather think of better ways to engage themselves.
ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK, Uyo
