By Deborah Hassan
365Daily -A contender for the Governship of Rivers State in the 2019 election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Dakuku Peterside, has faulted the Governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, for claiming that N16 billion was spent on building a law school in the state.
A press statement issued by his media team on Thursday, November 4, 2021, disclosed that the ex-House of Representatives member said this in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) added that while he was not opposed to building such a facility in Rivers State, queried how the contract was awarded from the “breast pocket” of the governor without bidders nor provision in the state budget.
He alleged that Governor Wike did not follow due process in the award of the contract, even as he noted that the N16 billion expenditure was made without approval from the Rivers State House of Assembly, advertisement or competitive bidding from interested contracting firms.
“Rivers people may not yet understand the damage being done to the finances of the state government as many contracts have been awarded under Wike’s administration without following the due process.
“Rivers State has a public procurement law that clearly states how contracts should be advertised and awarded to successful bidders, we have not seen such in this administration. Contracts are just simply awarded from the breast pocket of the Governor and to who he likes; competent or not,” he stated.
Peterside, a former Works Commissioner in Rivers State, accused the Governor of always condemning what he serially indulges in and engaging in name-calling in a “veiled attempt to portray himself as a saint.”
According to him, “Under what law did the governor award the contract from his private residence? Who evaluated the bill of quantities and how do you account for N5 billion set aside for miscellaneous? Under what law are 50-70 percent advance payments made?
“I know that the governor’s usual attack dogs will respond without first thinking of the future of Rivers generations and governance where one man single-handedly awards contracts without laid down procedures.
“Rivers people do not even have access to the state’s budget, hence do not know how many more contracts have been awarded without budgetary provisions and in accordance with laid down procurement law as enacted by the House of Assembly.
“In due season, we shall demand how the governor has spent our collective wealth and shall account for every money that he has fritted away in a veiled attempt to hoodwink Rivers people.”
He expressed concerns over the inability of the Wike-led administration to create jobs for teeming Rivers youth since he became governor in 2015.
“Governance is beyond brick and mortar, it is beyond the award of contracts, it is deliberate and measured, aimed at touching key sectors and giving the youth the platform to excel but the governor is sadly bereft of such ideas,” he summed up.