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authorities, in attending the Niger Delta Stakeholders’ engagement meeting with Osibanjo at Government House, the previous day.
Abe, who enjoined stakeholders in the state to ensure that there is peace and unity in the state as such will serve the best interest of the state, stated that certain developments on the visit of the acting president indicated that unity and peace are far from being attained in the state.
“Unity is what we do when the acting president is not there; when the cameras are not there. As a Senator of the federal republic of Nigeria, I did not receive an invitation to yesterday’s meeting. It was at the airport your own staff tried to give us invitation. That is not an act that will promote unity.”
Abe said, “Mr. President Sir, the Rivers State House of Assembly has 32 members. Out of the 32 members, the 6 members of the All Progressives Congress, who are members of the Assembly are the only 6 people that take taxis to the assembly.
“All other members drive cars that were bought by the Rivers State Government and the governor tells us it is his personal contribution to the House and these other 6 people are not entitled. In an atmosphere of that nature, it is clear that there can be no unity because it is not the words that we say in the front of television cameras that will bring unity. It is the actions that we take when nobody is watching.”
In his presentation at the meeting, director-general of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, listed exclusion, politicization of issues and insincere agitators as some of the hurdles that have hindered development in the Niger Delta region.
Peterside, who was APC governorship candidate in the 2015 general election in the state said, “There must be inclusiveness and desire to hold meaningful engagement with all strata & spectrum of all Niger Delta society.”
The NIMASA boss, who is a former member of the House of Representatives, expressed shock that Wike’s government was now calling for the return of Soku oil wells ceded to Bayelsa state, completion of East-West Road and the Port Harcourt International Airport, which were part of the reasons he (Wike) and ex-President Goodluck Jonathan fought Amaechi as governor.
Peterside admonished the Federal Government to return the Soku oil wells to Rivers state, not minding the campaign of calumny against the transportation minister, while calling for peace in the Niger Delta, to ensure sustainable development.
He regretted that politicization of the people’s struggle is a major roadblock to actualization of Niger Delta development, just as he berated the Rivers state governor for excluding several stakeholders from the event that took place in Government House, Port Harcourt.
“Rivers state is in development ICU (Intensive Care Unit) where the present government is reversing all the gains of the immediate past administration. We have the unenviable record of being the state that is number one insecurity.
“Rather than galvanizing Rivers’ interest into a common purpose, he said that the government has been culpable in militancy & criminality bedeviling the state, thus scaring away investors.”
Earlier in his welcome address, chairman of the APC in the state, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, noted that the killing of innocent people in Rivers state was becoming horrifying and taking a dangerous dimension, with beheading now introduced, while alleging that top officials of the Rivers government were behind the dastardly acts.
He noted that to ensure peace in the Niger Delta, the Federal Government must speedily complete the East-West Road, ensure adequate funding of the NDDC and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
Addressing the gathering, Acting President Osinbajo, “The APC is a party of today and the future. It is easy for people to say times are hard. Yes, times are hard. One of the reasons for the hard times is the corruption that took place for so many years.
“We are investigating at the moment, the $15 billion of the defence contract award. If $15 billion dollars disappeared, when you have a reserve of $30 billion, there is no way there will not be hardship.
“For the first time, we have bailed out the states of the federation. When we came, 22 states were not paying salaries at all. We had to bail them out twice. Despite the lean resources, we are still able to support the states. In the next few months, as things shape up, this country will improve and the exchange rate will improve.”
He said, “Some people have said when we came, the exchange rate was this, now it is that. What accounts for exchange rate is dollars. If you lose revenue, your exchange rate goes up. The exchange rate is not magic. It is just availability of dollars. With the cooperation of all of us, we will be able to bring the exchange rate down.
“Peace is very important. We (APC) are the government at the centre, for the first time. This is not the time to make war. This is the time to make peace. In order to derive all the benefits that we ought to derive from the centre. Some of us think that the answer to violence is violence. It is not. Vengeance belongs to God, not man.
“I am very confident that given the calibre of people that we have in the leadership and followership of the APC, the future is so bright. Do not be involved in any form of destruction or violence. APC is going to achieve everything that we have said we would achieve.”
“We know the pains, the suffering of those in opposition and I know what you have to go through in opposition, but the scripture says weeping may endure for a night, but surely, there will be joy in the morning. It is important that we must maintain peace.
“This government of President Buhari is committed to changing the narrative in the Niger Delta. The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited is compelled to give the $1 billion for Ogoni clean-up, in five tranches of $200 million a year. We have given a take-off grant of $10 million.
“On the East-West Road (from Oron in Akwa Ibom State to Ogoniland in Rivers State to Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Ogun States, terminating in Lagos), do not forget that it is six years old. What we have done in the last eighteen months is more than they did in the previous six to seven years.
“The Calabar-Lagos rail project is a very important project for this government. Already, we have set aside our own part of the counterpart fund. There is also a facility from China, to be able to do the project. It is in the budget for 2017. We would do what we said we would do.
“The young men and women who are involved in illegal refineries, we must engage them by establishing modular refineries. The amnesty programme will continue. We have made enough provision for amnesty that has ever been made.
“We have also made enough provision for social intervention. Rivers State has the second largest number of young graduates who are employed by the Federal Government, under the N-Power scheme.”
But, in his reaction to the meeting between Osinbajo and the APC stakeholders, Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, berated the leaders of APC in the state for allegedly misinforming Acting President but lauded Osinbajo for setting the record straight when he proclaimed the APC slogan and explained that he was at the Tuesday event to meet his Rivers APC family.