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Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has clarified his administration is not borrowing to execute projects in the state.
Speaking at the flag-off for the construction of Trans-Kalabari Road Phase 1 in Degema Local Government Area on Thursday, Wike reminded the people that even the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had confirmed his position.
Wike said he would not borrow to complete the Trans-Kalabari Road, which connects Krakrama, Omekwe-ama, Angula-ama, Mina-ama and other communities in the Kalabari area.
He said: “People are asking where am I getting the money from. People are saying I’m borrowing money. If I borrow money to develop my place (state) is there any offense there? They that borrow, did they do the road? If I’m borrowing and doing the work, have I not done well?
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“But in any case, I am not borrowing money. It is a matter of how you manage the resources of the people.
“So, I’m not owing any bank. I challenge any bank to say Rivers State government is indebted to them. The only money we took for agriculture, which Central Bank gave us, N5 billion, as I speak to you, we have not touched one Naira. The money is still in there.”
Wike recalled that in 2009, the previous administration in the state implemented a payment module that clearly lacked interest in either constructing or completing the Trans-Kalabari Road.
He said nobody would ever deceive Kalabari people with the promise of constructing Trans-Kalabari Road in the name of politics because the phase one of the project would be completed in 2022.
He said: “We have not only awarded the contract, we have awarded it in such a way that they (contractor) have nothing to do with us about funding.
“We have signed an irrevocable standing order where every month the contractor collects from the bank N1 billion. So, as this month is ending that’ll be the third billion they’ve collected.
“I’ve told you here that we’ve instructed the banks, take N1 billion off from our IGR account every month and give to the contractor to do the project. So, we are not borrowing money from any bank.”
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.