•Assures Rivers people of good governance as court throws out Local Govt Amendment Law

By PHC Telegraph

 

“Everything that we are doing is in my white paper”, Governor Siminalayi Fubara said as he spoke at the commissioning of Egbeda Internal Roads.

“I carry it along”, the Governor told his audience, “so, there is no issue of any manipulation. Call me any day, anytime, it is there. Even the ones I did before this time, I still have all the records.”

Fubara made the clarification on Tuesday as a court in Port Harcourt finally tossed out amendments made to the Rivers State Local Government Law. And the State House of Assembly screened new commissioner-designates to replace loyalists of the FCT Minister.

Speaking during the inauguration of  internal roads totalling 21.5 kilometres at Egbeda, Fubara hinted that his training has an influence on how he organises himself.

The Governor who is succeeding in curtailing the move by Barrister Nyesom Wike and his supporters to destabilize his administration stated, “If you call me any day, I will bring the records of all my activities in government because I know that as a civil servant, what is most important is record keeping.

“So that if you are not there, and something happens, it is just for somebody to pick up the file and he will see the history. That is how I am trained, and I have that in my mind before I do anything.

“I am not scared of anything. Anybody who calls me any day, anytime, I have my records to show. I have all the approvals to show that I acted based on approval and not personal decision.”

He assured that his administration would continue to deliver projects which impact positively on the people.

The Egbeda Internal Roads Project, he further stressed, has been accomplished to satisfy the needs of the people, solve the perennial flooding problem in the area and make the people happy.

Governor Fubara acknowledged the support of the people before, during and after the elections.

He said that what his administration owes the people is to provide them with dividends of democracy.

The Governor spoke about project timelines, the place of contractors in service delivery and the role of the people in actualising the implementation of meaningful projects.

“One thing is awarding a job, another is delivering in record time. I want to appreciate the contractor for standing by his words.

“Let me also thank the great people of Egbeda, and by extension, the Emohua Local Government Area for your support before, during and after the elections. You have shown so much support.

“For us, what do we owe you? We owe you the dividends of democracy. And what are the dividends of democracy? Service to our people”, the number one citizen remarked.

“There is nothing wrong in rebuilding a road, there is nothing wrong in promising to develop an area”, Fubara stated, “But what is important is when you want to do those things, do them to the satisfaction of the people.

“And what we have done here in Egbeda today is not just building the internal roads, but meeting your needs, solving your flood problem, that is what we have done.

“So, I want to also thank you for your support, because you cooperated with the contractor, that is why he delivered in record time.”

The Governor reiterated that the projects people are seeing were accomplishments of four months because his administration actually started taking decisions, and confronting governance in February, 2024.

Governor Fubara insisted that good governance, service and projects were being delivered at a cost-effective rate.

How We Did It In Four Months: 

“If in four months, we can do this, and we are getting this level of applause, you can imagine what will happen when we do one year of our record time, two years of our own record time, Rivers State would have experienced something different from the regular governance”, Governor Fubara pointed out.

It was apparently a clear reference to the political crisis that had enveloped the State early in the life of his government.

“I know why I said four months”, Fubara noted, “We started full governance in February, 2024. That was when we started taking decisions, when we started confronting governance. And I am proud to say that our people are happy with what we have done.

“What we want to do is to bring governance to our people, service delivery at record time, and in a cost effective way.”

In response to the request made by the Egbeda community, Governor Fubara granted the extension of work on the road from Egbeda to Omerelu, and promised to upgrade the Community Secondary School without inclusion of boarding facilities.

He said, “I have heard your request. You want an extension of the Egbeda-Omerelu road? We are going to do it for you. You want an upgrade of your traditional stool? I am not going to decide on that today. I will come for a town hall meeting, and we will discuss it. Whatever we decide, after consulting with all of you, we will grant your request.

“Thirdly, you also mentioned about your school, we are going to upgrade the school. But we are not going to give you boarding facilities in the school. You know the security challenges we are facing in rural communities across the country,” he said.

Oborevwori on Fubara’s Performance:

 

The Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori who is equally celebrating his first one year drove with Governor Fubara on the road.

The Governor had arrived the State Tuesday to perform the commissioning of the project.

He said afterwards that the commitment of his brother, the leader of Rivers State to sustain the development of infrastructure is unimpeachable.

“This road project at Egbeda bears true testimony of the commitment of the Rivers State Government towards fulfilling its promise of sustainable infrastructure development of the State”, Oborevwori said

“It is reassuring that these all-season roads will economically empower, not only the people of Egbeda, but the entire Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.

“With these roads, the people will enjoy better socio-economic empowerment and integration between the local government and the rest of the state,” he added.

What We Did To Deliver – Atemea Briggs:

Speaking earlier while providing the description of the project, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Works, Engr. Atemea Briggs, affirmed that the construction of the Egbeda Internal Roads project which has been fully paid for was delivered on schedule.

Briggs explained that the internal roads were initially awarded by the immediate past administration on March 9, 2023, to Monier Construction Company Nigeria Limited (MCC) at a cost of N3.87billlion.

“Later, on November 27, 2023, the contract was reversed to include additional roads to better serve the Egbeda community. As a result, the reverse contract sum was increased to N12billion.

“Before our Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara took office on May 29, 2023, only N1.5billion of the contract sum had been paid by the previous administration,” he said.

Engr Briggs said the roads entailed an increase of the total lanes from 9.32 kilometers to 21.5 kilometers, and the total drainage length to 25.4 kilometers.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Monier Construction Company (MCC), Senator John Azuta Mbata, expressed gratitude to the Governor for giving them the honour to handle the project.

He said the project shows the commitment of Governor Fubara towards extending urban development drive to rural communities, and particularly addressing the perennial flood-related problems in the area.

In his welcome address, a former commissioner for Works, Emmanuel Omah, said Egbeda with nine communities has the largest population of indigenous natives.

He added that the people were grateful to the State Governor whose understanding led to the timely delivery of the project.