Wike tackles Peterside over budget

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has berated the former Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, for a comment on Rivers economy from an alleged point of ignorance.

Reacting to Peterside’s query on the state’s economy, the governor wondered why he (Peterside), with his educational attainment, would say the economy of Lagos and Akwa Ibom states are better than Rivers’ based on the fact that Lagos and Akwa Ibom have higher budget figures.

Wike, in a statement signed by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, said: “If a man, who is that ignorant, refused to be silent but comes to public discourse platform to display such loose grasp of the subject matter, it will cause people to question his academic status.”

Wike argued that such comments from Peterside puts a question mark on his doctoral degree, wondering how he could say that the performance of the economy is dependent on budgetary estimates.

He said, “When they asked him about the budget of Rivers State, he said the mere fact that Lagos State budget is very high, the mere fact that Akwa Ibom budget is very high and Rivers State budget is low, that means the economy is not doing well.

“A Ph.D. holder saying that the performance of an economy is based on the size of a budget. Which means that Cross River that had a budget of N1.3 trillion economy has performed more than every other state economy.”

The governor queried Perterside’s understanding of governance, recalling that he served in the last administration when all courts in Rivers State were shut for two years.

“They asked him about governance, he said there is no governance in Rivers State. I agree with him. There was governance when the courts were shut down during his administration? You are aware that the courts were shut down for almost two years. There was governance at that time.”

The governor argued that with the level of infrastructure and other policies of government towards Ahoada communities, nobody would say his administration has failed the Ekpeye people.

Inaugurating the 10km internal roads, Tambuwal praised Wike for changing the face of Rivers for good.

Special Adviser to Wike on Special Projects, Dax Kelly Alabo, said the 10 km network of internal roads has 20km of drains on both sides.

He said the roads were built to last 40 years and would impact positively on the socioeconomic dynamics of the community.