Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Tinubu has appreciated Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike for contributing to his victory at the 25th of February presidential poll which has been riddled with controversies.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Tinubu, who spoke on Wednesday, while commissioning the Rumuokwuta/Rumuola flyover in Port Harcourt, explained that Wike’s stand that the presidency must return to the Southern part of the country was part of the factor that played key roles in ensuring that his victory became reality.
The President-elect described Wike as a man of integrity who abandoned his personal interest for the interest of the nation.
According to the former Lagos governor, despite the rumours and speculation peddled against him during the electioneering season, Wike stood by his conviction.
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He said, ‘Nyesom, I say thank you for your contribution to my victory. I couldn’t have done this without some structural support. In Wike, I see a man of principle.
‘He took a good stand that the presidency must return to the South and he had the courage to stand by his conviction not minding those against him.
‘Wike is indeed a man of great integrity, he did not choose to serve his own interests but rather the interest of the nation. You promoted unity, you promoted fairness.
‘There was so much gossip and speculation but you stood your ground’.
Earlier, Wike had informed Tinubu that; ‘Part of why we are having uncompleted projects has to do with our procurement laws. If you follow the procurement law, it will take very long to complete projects.
‘How much does the procurement law, I mean for federal, say, 15 to 30 per cent (mobilisation)? When you give a contractor 15 per cent, inflation is rising almost every day, before you give another money, they will call for variation because of the increasing cost of materials.
‘In our case, I call Mr. Speaker, to say we can’t continue with this. We had to amend our procurement law to give us the latitude to pay 70 percent to a company we know has the capacity to deliver within time.
‘That is why today, no project being handled by Julius Berger is uncompleted. We are dualising Ahoada to Omoku to Egbema to our boundary with Imo State. Julius Berger is doing that work. We are also dualising from Emohua, East West to Degema Junction, also by JB.
‘How much did they charge us, about N80 billion. We fall back on our Internally Generated Revenue, to say every month, take N4 billion, and finish this road in 18 months. That is why we have never failed in completing our projects.
‘Unfortunately, these projects are federal roads. We don’t want our people to suffer. I believe Federal Government should say let us refund these monies. I assure you, as you enter the office and approve to pay these monies back, other states will also do the same thing. So that (refund) is the first request we are making to you.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that Wike will be leaving office as Governor on the 29th of May.