The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the Federal Government was inadvertently promoting corruption whenever it allowed paltry sums of money, in its yearly budget for a project, instead of the entire money required to complete such projects within the agreed time.
The Governor made the observation while speaking during the inauguration of a flyover project which was performed by Mike Ozekhome, SAN.
He said such practice encouraged variation of the value of the projects, elongated the time to complete such projects, and most often led to abandonment.
He said, “You know, I don’t like variation. It is not in my dictionary. That is where you see corruption. How can you award a job of N60billion, then in the budget of the year, you put N2billion.
“What kind of contact is that?. Why will there not be variation. That job will last in the next ten years and that is the problem we have in our contract execution.
Performing the project inauguration, legal luminary and human rights activist, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said Governor Wike had through the execution of numerous infrastructural projects, demonstrated transparency and accountability in the management of the resources of Rivers State.
“He has shown that it is not enough for a Governor to get his monthly allocation from the revenue account under Section 162 of the Constitution but without showing evidence of what you are using that money for”.
Ozekhome noted that accountability, which has been the hallmark of the Wike’s administration, is the essence of governance and the essence of govment.
