‘It’s in the bank’ — Wike confirms refund of N78bn spent on federal roads

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, says the state has received the N78 billion it spent on the construction of federal roads in the state.

President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the refund in June 2020.

Wike confirmed the refund on Wednesday, during the commissioning of the second phase of the Isiopko internal roads in Ikwere local government area (LGA) of the state.

The project was commissioned by Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra state and vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general election.

According to a statement by Kelvin Ebiri, the governor’s spokesman, Wike said the N78 billion will be used for capital projects for the benefits of residents of the state.

“Rivers people, the federal government has refunded us the money. I have not touched a dime yet and it is in the bank. I will use it for project execution,” the governor was quoted to have said.

“I kept it to tell those who are making noise to know that I am going to work till the last day in office. I will continue to work for the interest of our people. I’m not resting.

“They need to know that I will make sure that what is supposed to be done for the people of Rivers state is done. I will persist until we have improved and changed Rivers state and bring it back to what it’s supposed to be.’’

On his part, Obi noted that Nigeria is not working because people are appointed and elected to leadership positions on the basis of sentiments.

“For recruitment into governance, competence, capacity, and visible performance like we are seeing here today should be embraced,” the former Anambra governor said.

“The reason why Nigeria is not working today is that people have been recruited based on sentiment and that has to stop because the country is collapsing.”