From Tony John Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said politicians should no longer be tolerated if their strength lies in only making promises without the capacity and will to fulfil them.
The governor made the declaration at the inauguration of the Isiodu Road in Emohua Local Government Area, performed by Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, yesterday.
He said there must be accountability among politicians and that anyone seeking elective public office should not only nurse such ambition without having requisite competence to deliver on projects and services that would solve the problems of people.
“If you want to be a counsellor, council chairman, senator, governor or Mr. President, you know there are problems in Nigeria that you want to solve. You shouldn’t come after securing the position to say, ‘I am sorry I couldn’t do that thing I promised because of the problems we are having.’ Your business is to solve problems. It is not to give excuses why that problem cannot be solved. Politics is no longer rhetorics. It is no longer making promises, and after voting, you abandon the people. Now, politicians should be held accountable for every promise they make. In that way, everybody will know that when your are bringing people for elective position, they must be people who will say something and fulfil it. This is not the period of excuses,” he said.
The governor said no local government in Rivers State had been deprived of developmental project.
According to him, projects were being delivered to local councils as fulfilment of election promises because the people needed to feel the impact of the state government.
He said such commitment to the good of the people had marked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as different from the other party that has failed Nigerians and continues to ride on excuses of their inability to solve problems they said they would solve.
Wike said political leaders in Emohua Local Government, who supported his administration, have evidence of their support, because they attracted projects back home, unlike those on the other divide.
“If a man says he is close to government, his people expects him to bring something in return. Look at Chief Sergent Awuse and others who believe in this government. Paul Wonodi says he believes in this government. They have brought projects back home from the government that they believe in. For us, this is what our party stands for. Our party is the hope for Nigerians; if the other party has anything to offer, let them come out and offer it.”
Abaribe noted that the people of Emohua could not relent in believing in Governor Wike who they know as a leader who delivers on his promises.
He said while the Federal Government finds excuses for inability to execute projects that had been appropriated in the national budget, Governor Wike blazes a shining example of how to solve social, economic and infrastructural problems, by making life better for Rivers people.
“Today, I have seen that you’re the real talk and do person. That you have been able to bring eminent Nigerians to come and be commissioning projects that you started and completed since December 2020 is something that is unprecedented in Nigeria. It is the fact that it is not just having the money, but it is the will to deploy it for the benefit of the people that you have put in position to redirect and change their lives. Let me also say that you are an ambassador, a role model and a shining light of PDP in Nigeria. When they continue to look for excuses in the Federal Government, and we come here and see how you are doing your own thing without looking for excuses, we know that somebody like you cannot be left alone in Nigeria. We must all continue to support you.”