The Federal Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has not yet received a refund of N78.9bn for the execution of Federal Government road projects in the state.
Fashola, who stated this in Port Harcourt, on Saturday during the commissioning of the Rebisi Flyover, added that Wike still needed to visit the National Assembly for ratification.
The minister said the Federal Government reimbursed the funds across the states irrespective of party affiliations.
He said, “Let me make an important observation here; in the first tranche, the refunds I think were in the order of N577bn, more than a trillion naira, I don’t know the exact number but it was done across party line in the states.
“A total of N148bn and, of course, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State got the lion’s share, N78bn. But don’t leave here thinking that he (Wike) has received N78bn. Not yet, he still has to go to the National Assembly.”
Fashola stressed that although the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), initiated the apolitical reimbursement of funds to the states, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, ensured that Rivers State got its due, contrary to claims that he (Amaechi) fought against it.
Speaking, Wike said he was happy fulfilling his promise to the Rivers people, adding that he had the intention of constructing more flyovers in Port Harcourt to ease traffic in the state capital.
Wike, however, appealed to Fashola to prevail on the Federal Government to ensure more refunds to the state. (Punch)
