From Joe Effiong, Uyo

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, has appealed to the people of the state to see the proposed construction of Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge in Lagos as an investment.

Addressing the newsmen on Saturday to douse the tension generated by the lodge which initial estimate cost was alleged to be N9.1 billion, Udom said the state had many assets lying waste in Lagos, as such it was time to convert them into revenue yielding ventures instead of selling them off. He said those hiding behind the cloak of cheap propaganda and blackmail to deride his administration, had limited knowledge of primary economics and business. Insisting that the total estimate in the budget for the new lodge is N1.2 billion, the governor explained that it is just a proposal which could only be implemented only when fund is available. But, he said he was not surprised by the spate of falsehood against his programmes, as history was littered with records of good intentions of world leaders who had been misconstrued and misrepresented.

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“From the days of Moses, great leaders are always misquoted and misconstrued but God can only give vision to one leader, and the people know that at any point in time, there can only be one governor.

“This is a government that is trying to drive investments all over the world. Will Akwa Ibom people feel proud for me to host so many consular generals and investors in that kind of dilapidated building? What will it speak of the state? “If I can put in N1.2 billion in an asset that is worth N30 billion and then I can get adequate returns on those assets now that I don’t have so much money coming from crude oil, what is bad in that?” he asked.