No Going Back on Termination of State-owned Power Plant, Wike Vows

Davidson Iriekpen

River State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, Thursday declared that no amount of blackmail and propaganda would alter the termination of the sale of valued state assets to Sahara Energy Limited.

Wike said: “No amount of blackmail will change the situation. The courts are there for them to seek redress.

“Rivers and Lagos States are not the same. No single man can dictate what happens in Rivers State. We have different ethnic groups and culture.”

The governor said the termination of the sale of valued state assets to Sahara Energy followed due process.

He called on those aggrieved to seek redress in court.

The governor spoke during the 2018 Ogbakor Etche December Convention at Obiri Etche, Umugwu, Okehi.

He said: “The Rivers State Government was not vindictive in terminating the sale of valued state assets to Sahara Energy Limited. One company used three subsidiaries to illegally acquire state assets.

“If there was any vindictiveness, it was on the part of those who used the state government to deny Rivers people their valued state assets.”

The governor said the state government resolved to implement the White Paper on the recommendations of the Justice Omereji Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the sale of valued state assets because there is no stay of execution stopping the administration.

He said the godfather of Tonye Cole and Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, lost at the High Court and Court of Appeal when he tried to stop the implementation of the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry.

Wike said the minister and his business partner illegally bought over the state assets with a plot to install Cole for the purchase of more state assets.

“Rivers people have come to know that only one person bought all their assets. He came and took what belongs to the entire state. Now they want to acquire more”, he said.

Speaking further, the governor said he would continue to support Etche ethnic nationality and develop their communities through key projects.

He said more than any other administration in the past, he has executed key projects in the area.

On the forthcoming elections, Wike urged Rivers people not to vote APC because the federal government has not executed any single project in the state.

President General of Ogbakor Etche, Machy Nwodim, said the Etche people would re-elect Wike because of his outstanding projects delivery. They urged the governor to execute more projects in Etche land during his second term.

In his remarks, Onye-Ishi Etche and Paramount Ruler of Etche Kingdom, Ochie E. N. B. Opurum, said Etche people are reaping the benefits of their support for Wike in 2015.

He said Etche people would support the governor again in 2019.