A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress Alabo,
Alamboye Igonikon, has described the 2019 budget of Rivers State Government
recently presented to the Rivers State House of Assembly as mere document of
impulse by governor Wike tailored to pursue the governor's personal fancy and
agenda.
Alabo Igonikon, stated this Wednesday while speaking
with journalists in Port Harcourt.
"The entire budget does not represent what a
thorough budget should be. Instead of capturing the essential areas of need of
the people, instead of making provision for the even and equitable development
of every area of the State, what Gov. Wike presented as a budget to the
Assembly is sheer wishful thinking based on his brain wave; not well thought
through programmes and plans that will grow the economy of Rivers State and
give jobs to the youths.
"The governor's claim that the 2018 budget
achieved 80 percent implementation is manifestly false and perhaps the biggest
lie taken from the very abyss of hell. How could he have achieved 80 percent
implementation when he managed to fund only three ministries out of the rest in
the state civil service?"
"Apart from Ministry of Works and two others,
Wike blatantly refused to fund capital budgets of the rest of the ministries
since he became governor. The civil servants and commissioners can attest to
this fact; not even ancillary services at the State Secretariat are funded
leading to the sorry state of hygiene and sanitation at the complex,"
Alabo Igonikon stated.
Continuing, the Party Chieftain wondered why Gov.
Wike refused to promote civil servants, assembly and other workers in the state
public service.
"As I speak, Gov. Wike is close to spending
four years in office as governor. He has not promoted a single civil servant in
the State public service. The reason is that he doesn't want to pay them their
rightful earnings that will emanate from such promotions. All the governor does
is to fund only the few ministries where he personally awarded the contracts.
"In 2017, he handpicked PDP members of the
Rivers State House of Assembly whom he funded their Constituency Projects; he
brazenly left out the APC members of the State Assembly. He refused to realise
that he is governor of the entire Rivers State and not governor for only PDP.
He ignored the fact that those APC assembly members represent various areas and
constituencies of Rivers State. What he did was to levy collective punishment
on the entire constituents of those areas represented by APC lawmakers. Is this
not the height of callousness?"
"The only evidence of budget implementation we
have seen is that the governor operates the state budget in line with his
whimsical and capricious bent. He moves funds without appropriate legislative
averment from one head to another as it suits his fancy," Igonikon
charged.
Alabo Igonikon, challenged the governor to invite
commissioners and heads of parastatals and agencies to individually come
forward to defend their budgets before the assembly.
"Rivers people are challenging Gov. Wike to
allow commissioners and heads of agencies and parastatals to appear and defend
their specific components of the the budget as is the usual practice. He will
not let that happen to avoid them opening a major Pandora box on the fraud
which this budget is.
"Where did the governor get the money with
which he is using to sponsor the weddings of children of selected judicial
officers in the Rivers State judiciary as he is doing now instead of funding
the judiciary adequately devoid of favouritism?" the party stalwart
queried.
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