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Rivers APC accuses Wike of reaping from war against soot

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Nyesom Wike of politicising the fight against soot that is enveloping Port Harcourt, the state capital, in a bid to allegedly reap political dividends.

 

The party, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Chris Fynebone, said the governor refused to take action over the soot menace for many years despite the fact that there was a sustained outcry over the situation and its consequences.

 

The party noted that rather than take action over it, the governor has been busy blaming the federal government and security agents.

 

Fynebone said: “In defending the many years that it took the governor to wake up from a deep sleep over the soot challenge, it is disheartening to find the state governor blaming everyone else but himself for doing nothing over the past years in addressing the deadly soot. When the governor is not blaming security agents, he is blaming the federal government.

 

“Whereas the accusation against some security personnel may have some substance worthy of investigation, it is rather most unintelligent for the governor, who heads a subnational government to blame the Federal Government for inaction on the deadly soot in Rivers State when the state government has not initiated any concrete action requiring synergy with the federal government.

“Indeed, governmentto- government businesses are not conducted based on off-the-cuff comments of a governor at functions or events.

 

“Can the Rivers State Government provide proof of Save Our Soul (SOS) memos initiated by it and addressed to the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Environment, calling for the central government’s intervention in the matter?

Fynebone added: “The truth is that the governor never considered the soot descending on Port Harcourt and environs important enough for six years until now. “All the APC is saying is that the governor should be honest enough to take responsibility for doing nothing for over six years even as the citizens continued to cry for help.

“The governor should not merely go after grasshoppers while leaving the elephants to continue with their alternative economy that inflicts havoc on the lives of residents of the state.

 

“It should not be seen as a ready opportunity to rope in innocent political opponents, particularly now that the local government chairmen are major drivers of the fight.

“The Rivers State Government should also ensure that it must not claim to be fighting illegal refining of petroleum, while at the same time, its biggest contractor (Julius Berger) is providing a huge ready market for relatively cheaper illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel that is killing our people. That would be classical grand folly,” The party said.

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