Fubara replies Wike, says Rivers not personal estate

Apparently responding to the boastful comments and attacks on him by the former Governor and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who spoke in Port Harcourt at the weekend, the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has vowed that he would never give away his kidney or liver to be loyal to anybody.

Fubara declared that the state is not a private enterprise and nobody can hold it hostage, affirming that he is fully in charge of affairs in the state.

The governor spoke at an inter-denominational Church thanksgiving service organised as part of activities marking the 64th Independence Day Celebration of Nigeria at St. Paul’s Cathedral of the Anglican Communion at Garrison Junction in Port Harcourt yesterday.

He said that those antagonising his administration are experiencing frustration seeing how the affairs of the state had been conducted, and the milestones achieved.

Fubara accused such people of being determined to control the state as their estate, insisting that his administration has taken over the soul of the state to secure it as commonly owned by all Rivers people.

“I belong to that school of thought that if I am the only person that needs to stand on that side of right, I will stand there. I don’t need anybody to stand with me. I cannot give my kidney or liver to anybody, I won’t. If that is the only way to be loyal, I will not be. But, I will not do the wrong thing. I will stand for the right side,” Fubara said.

Fubara dispelled any fears in the minds of Rivers people concerning the political crisis in the state, assuring that the most difficult stage of that experience had been overcome.

He noted that most of the decisions taken by his administration may not have been popular, but added that they were necessary if the state must be protected from detractors.

The governor urged everyone to join hands with his administration to tackle the big task of securing the soul of the state and making it a proud place for all Rivers people.

On the allegation by Wike of a state-sponsored attempt to bomb the venue of the grand civic reception by Rivers Ijaw People’s Council (RIVCO) at Rainbow Town, in Port Harcourt on Saturday in his honour, Fubara said: “I make bold to say that there is no security agency in this state that I have called any day to go and do something wrong. I have never. I don’t need it. But I know what they do, and they keep failing because God has left them.”

To correct the wrong narrative in some quarters, the governor explained that he signed the contractual sum of N200 billion loan papers from Zenith Bank to fund the construction of the 50.15-kilometre dual carriage Port Harcourt Ring Road as the project started by his administration.

He also stated that his administration was embarking on constructing the actual Trans-Kalabari Road project worth N225.1 billion, plus the general hospitals together with the Psychiatric Hospital in Obio/Akpor Local Council, among others, which nobody can lay claims to at all.

He added that the projects are being funded without borrowing.

He said: “They even say, they don’t know what we are doing. Let me remind them, that it is Fubara that signed the paper to borrow from Zenith Bank the N200 billion for the construction of the Port Harcourt Ring Road. So, it is my project.

“I awarded the Trans-Kalabari Road which they couldn’t do. They only did a bridge from Krakrama, but I am the one doing the complete span and it is N225 billion. I didn’t borrow.”