In a role reversal, Rivers State
Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, wednesday launched an attack on the
federal government similar to the those made by his predecessor, Rotimi
Chibuike Amachi, against former President Goodluck Jonathan, with Wike
accusing the federal government of contributing to the underdevelopment
of states across the country, particularly Rivers State, due to its
overbearing attitude and its dysfunctional agencies.
Wike said the dysfunctional agencies
operated by the federal government were responsible for the slow pace of
development at the state level.
He said state governors should no longer
be addressed as chief security officers, but mere chief logistic
officers who only provide logistics for federal security agencies.
Addressing the Executive Intelligence
Management Course (EIMC) 9 at the Institute of Security Service (ISS) in
Abuja yesterday, the governor called for the reform of relevant federal
and state institutions to ensure that they contribute to development
rather than impede it.
He said: “The federal government is
simply too overbearing with too much powers and resources at its
disposal. We know the recurring rifts between the federal government and
the states on development issues, including revenue sharing, resource
control, on the excess crude oil account, appointments into federal
agencies, and the arbitrary location or withdrawal of federally funded
projects.
In his paper titled, “Institutional
Weaknesses and Challenges of Development in Rivers State,” the governor
argued that federal government agencies had been turned against state
and local governments and constitute themselves into stumbling blocks as
they deliberately embark on unconstitutional activities that stall
development.
He said Rivers State had been at the
receiving end of the failure of federal institutions, as no new projects
had neither been earmarked nor established in the state by the federal
government for years.
The governor stated: “Given its
contributions to national development, Rivers State deserves to be
accorded special status and consideration from the federal government,
but it is not.
“Rather, the state has suffered
sustained neglect, marginalisation and injustice from successive federal
governments and its agencies. Even as no new development project has
been initiated in the state for decades, what is most distressing is the
failure of the federal government to adequately maintain some of the
critical federal infrastructure in the state.”
He noted that the centralisation of
security and the poor use of the security agencies had negatively
impacted on the development of Rivers State, with several anti-people
measures instituted to work against the peace of the state.
He said: “Developments in Rivers State
in the last few months point to the capture of the state’s security
system by some special interest groups in their attempt to over-awe the
state government and achieve their political agenda.
“Thus, frequent transfers of the
Commissioner of Police and the Director of the State Security Services
has become the norm. I am currently working with the fifth Commissioner
of Police since I assumed office barely a year ago.
“Indeed, things have become so bizarre
that senior officers who had political brushes with me now head every
sensitive police formations in the state.”
Wike restated that the manipulation of
the electoral process by the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) was extremely worrisome, with the state being denied
representation at the National Assembly while the state House of
Assembly has not been fully constituted.
He pointed out that the most shocking
aspect is Tai Local Government Area in the state, where he accused INEC
of plotting to “sneak in concocted results” for cancelled polls.
“The failure to conclude the re-run
elections in Rivers State is a distraction, for which the state is
paying on account of INEC’s institutional weaknesses and
inefficiencies,” he said.
The governor pointed out that despite
the federal government’s stumbling blocks on the path to development,
his administration has ensured that the people of the state enjoy
governance and development.
He said the state judiciary, which was
crippled by the immediate past administration, has been revived, made
more functional and independent.
The governor stated that the House of
Assembly today enjoys independence while the hitherto moribund civil
service has been revived.
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