Latest News | News Break Nigeria The Grassroots Development Initiative, a group sponsored by the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has vowed to stop the $280m loan approved by the Rivers State House of Assembly for the state government to embark on water and sanitation projects. The State House of Assembly had on Monday endorsed the request of the State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for the loan that would be drawn from the African Development Bank and the World Bank. But GDI President General, Mr. Bright Amewhule, said though his group would have embraced the option of taking the state government to court to stop the loan, the ongoing strike by the state judiciary had made the move impossible. Amewhule explained that GDI would embrace other means to ensure that the state governor did not succeed in getting the water and sanitation loan. Pointing out that the people must have drinking water provided with Rivers money and not borrowed funds, the GDI president general alleged that the loan was to be shared by the governor and the top notchers of the All Progressives Congress in the state. He said, “They have stopped us from using the court by ensuring that workers remain on strike. We will embrace other means to stop Governor Amaechi and his cronies from getting that loan. “Did Governor Amaechi not tell us between 2013 and early 2014 that the same World Bank loan for the provision of water was frustrated by the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and the Federal Ministry of Finance being one of the reasons for leaving the PDP. “He (Amaechi) has taken several loans that are already being questioned by the people of the state and as if that was not enough, he is seeking for another approval from his friends in the Assembly to secure a loan from the African Development Bank and the World Bank to the tune of $280m purportedly to provide water and sanitation for Rivers people.” On the ongoing strike by the state judiciary workers, Amewhule said some politicians in the state had decided to weaken the powers of the judiciary. He maintained that it was wrong for the staff of the state judiciary to embark on an indefinite strike as a result of explosions in Ahoada High Court and recalled that the State Police Commissioner, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, had said adequate security had been provided for them (judiciary workers). While calling on the people of the state to say no to strike embarked upon by the state judiciary workers, Amewhule said, “We note with dismay statements credited to the national officers of the judiciary workers that suspects in police custody should perish in detention rather than the workers returning to their offices and Governor Amaechi’s threat not to pay salaries or sack judiciary workers who take orders for the NJC or Justice Daisy Okocha as the major reason why they cannot return to work. “Please, let them know that Governor Amaechi did not pay Obio-Akpor workers/political appointees and those elected their salaries for one year, but they worked and heaven did not fall.” Reacting, the state’s APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Fynebone, told The PUNCH that there was no way the state government would take loan to fund APC activities. Fynebone explained that there were stages to how the funds would be drawn, adding that the Federal Ministry of Finance and World Bank officials would be involved in the process and monitoring of every stage of the projects. He said, “Anyone who has a dint of knowledge of how these things work will know that it is not a regime where you begin to draw down funds and spend. There is no way any loan taken for state development would be used for APC activities. “There are stages to how the withdrawal of the funds is made. The Federal Ministry of Finance and World Bank officials will be there to monitor the process and stages of the projects.”
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 17:02:14 +0000
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