APC faults N18bn Rivers flyover loan

The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State led by Isaac Ogbobula has expressed sadness over the state House of Assembly’s approval of N18bn loan requested by Governor Nyesom Wike for the building of a fourth flyover in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state as well as for the revamping of roads in the state capital.

The APC described the governor’s move as a misplaced priority, adding that the money should have been used in developing cottage industries that would engage the teeming unemployed youths as well as strengthen the state’s economy.

The state lawmakers had on Monday, August 10, approved the N18bn loan request by the governor for the construction of a fourth flyover and expansion of other roads in the state.

The spokesman for the state chapter of the APC, Ogbonna Nwuke, in a statement on Tuesday, August 13, 2020 said the direction Wike was driving the state would further put it on a path of consumption, rather than production.

The statement read in part, “We express our opposition to the use of a whooping sum of N18bn on the construction of a flyover and road expansion project in Port Harcourt.

“That kind of money can be used judiciously in developing cottage industries and creating jobs, which will engage our youths and strengthen the economy. Roads leading to most of our local government areas have completely packed up. They require to be fixed in order to end the misery of the people.

“To date, we remain a consumer state instead of a producer state, which depends solely on federal allocations. The government should fulfil its promise to embark on agriculture. Our people cannot continue to watch, while their contemporaries elsewhere are motivated by their state governments to engage in productive activities.”