• Rivers govt. berates APC’s factional chairman over projects delivery

Tony John, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has called on Ekiti people to stand firm and resist any attempt by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to manipulate their governorship election results next week.

Speaking during the official presentation of flag to the Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola Eleka, yesterday, in Ado-Ekiti, Governor Wike said “this is Operation stay where you are.”

He said on no account should the Ekiti people be intimidated by the use of security agencies for the purpose of manipulating the process.

He said: “If they like they should bring missiles, stay put and defend your votes. Stay put at the voting centre until the results are formally announced.

“Everybody must be courageous and vigilant. Nobody should run away due to intimidation. Stay and demand credible elections because they don’t want to conduct credible polls.

“They want to rig, but, they must be resisted by the good people of Ekiti State. Look at the crowd, Ekiti State has been won by the PDP.”

Wike assured the Ekiti electorate of the support and best wishes of Rivers people.

The mega rally was attended by PDP governors, presidential aspirants and chieftains from across the country.

Meanwhile, Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Emma Okah, has called on the state’s factional chairman of the APC, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, to seek knowledge about basic dynamics of government at all levels, before making a caricature of himself and his office.

Okah made the remarks yesterday, while reacting to a statement credited to Flag-Amachree, claiming that the recently commissioned Nyemoni Grammar School, Abonnema and Birabi Memorial Grammar School (BMGS) were funded by the money received from the Federal Government, through Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

He said: “Again, Ojukaye Amachree has lied and ridiculed himself because the funding for remodelling and reconstruction of the schools was provided 100 percent by the government of Rivers State.

“At no time did any kobo come from anybody or authority outside Rivers State government, and there was no need for it,” Okah said.

The information commissioner noted that Ojukaye would have saved himself the intellectual embarrassment, if he had contacted the Ministry of

Education or the Secondary Schools Board “as diligent people do.”

The commissioner said it was important to teach Flag-Amachree and other like minds that, “Rivers State government stands tall in terms of project execution, and there is no need to claim what we are not.

“The truth is UBEC as well as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) pool some funds and offer them to states in Nigeria to promote only primary and junior secondary education on certain stringent terms.

“One of the conditions is that the benefitting state must deposit a counterpart fund. This condition is onerous and most states run away from accessing the money.

“It takes a governor with vision and determination to enhance quality education, to raise the counterpart funding. It is for this reason that the former governor Chibuike Amaechi administration avoided the funds for three years and refused to raise the accumulated counterpart fund of N2.8 billion before he exited in 2015.

“The Wike administration came on board in 2015, and paid the accumulated counterpart funds of N2.8 billion and qualified to access the funds,” the commissioner explained.

He said the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) was inaugurated to manage the subject matter.

“It is for this reason the SUBEB designed its programme, and began the massive reconstruction of many primary and junior secondary schools in the state. SUBEB has no role to play in senior secondary school affairs.

“So far, SUBEB is doing some works, but the Rivers State government has not started commissioning those schools and projects handled by SUBEB.

“Furthermore, we wish to state that even though there are junior secondary school components in Nyemoni Grammar School and BMGS Bori, as well as in GSS Onne, GSS Ogu, Western Ahoada County High School, GSS Abua and others, the reconstruction, remodeling and furnishing of the schools have been exclusively funded by Rivers State government, with no kobo from any other source. SUBEB also has no hand in those projects.

“Therefore, Amachree has goofed. He needs to show knowledge and understanding of basic workings of government at all levels, as otherwise, he will continue to manifest ignorance, and the enormous task of opposing a performing government like that of Wike is not for the feeble minded or unprepared,” Okah said.