BY: Mohammed Taoheed
Nyesom Wike, the Rivers State Governor, has come under another knocks for perceived wastage on the state’s commonwealth following latest goodwill donations to external interests.
Track News Nigeria learnt that Wike had on Tuesday donated N300 million to the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials.
Hours later, he also donated N200 million support to a library built by his staunch political ally, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in honour of his late father in Abia state.
BUT reacting to this, Canada based political management consultant of Rivers descent, Joe Korka-Waadah, said:
“The reckless attitude of Governor Wike towards dolling out tax payers money to other states when Rivers people are suffering is really appalling.”
Korka-Waadah, a lead of the All Progressives Congress (APC), added that, “It’s unfortunate that the governor (Wike) has refused to learn from his mistakes for the last eight years. What more evidence do Rivers people need to vote out the PDP.
“The only solution to this is to vote Tonye Cole for governor and and all other APC candidates in the forthcoming election. Rivers state cannot afford another four years under another PPD regime.”
Darlington Nwauju, the Rivers APC spokesperson, also stated: “We congratulate the Governor of Rivers State for being the first amongst his peers to have doled out several millions of naira in free will donations to states across the country.
“From Sokoto to Benue, from Bayelsa to Cross Rivers. Even unto funding a privately owned University in Rivers State. What we keep wondering is from what part of the state budget the Governor makes these humongous donations. Now, we hear of another N300M to wives of officials of the Lagos State Government; a state way ahead of Rivers State on all fronts and N200m in Abia state.
“Indeed, our Governor maybe courting the image of a humanitarian in the eyes of the unsuspecting public, but, permit us to ask – how does these donations impact the lives of ordinary Rivers people?
“We once again draw attention to the plight of the flood victims in the Orashi region who are daily losing their ancestral homes and sources of livelihood. May we remind Rivers people that a part of our state, is under the worst form of psychological trauma and it will take more than donating N1Billion naira to get to solve both the underlying issues and indeed the aftermath of this disaster as hundreds of homes and farmlands have been washed away.
“We have proposed the declaration of an emergency in the four affected local government areas as we have sufficient reasons to believe that the state may not be ready to contain the post-flooding health emergencies that stares us in the face.”
