•Decries FG’s refusal to release funds for Bonny-Bodo Road

Tony John, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, declared yesterday that Nigeria is in coma and only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can salvage the country.
This was just as former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, also declared he has the capacity to revive Nigeria’s fortunes.
They spoke yesterday, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, when Lamido visited Wike, to inform the governor of his intention to contest the 2019 presidency.
Governor Wike said the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a party of strangers with no knowledge of the intricacies of development.
“If you decamp to the APC, you are no longer corrupt. APC is a party of daylight deceit. I am happy that one of those who left to bring a messiah has realised that the so-called messiah they brought is no longer the messiah Nigerians expected. PDP is the only hope for Nigeria,” said Wike.
The governor noted that although the PDP made mistakes in the past, the party is the only platform with the commitment and patriotism to take the country out of its current situation.
He said the present political and economic situation in the country required politicians with courage to rescue the country.
Speaking further, Wike said those who benefited from the PDP since inception till 2013, before defecting, are the same people sponsoring negative propaganda against the party.
The governor described Lamido as a committed and consistent PDP member, who is courageous and has the capacity to confront the APC.
He, however, urged all presidential aspirants to accept the verdict of the party at the end of the primary.
In his response, Lamido, said he is presenting himself to take over in 2019 because the country deserves to move forward.
“I want to run because I feel I can do it. I have the pedigree. We stand to fight for democracy and the restoration of Nigeria.
In another development, Wike berated the Federal Government for failing to release its counterpart fund of N60 billion, to execute the Bonny-Bodo road project.
Wike said this, yesterday, when he received the management of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
He said the inability of government to treat all sections of the country fairly has generated tension.
“We produce the oil that makes Nigeria to survive.  Yet, the road leading to Bonny Island is a source of politics. The failure of the federal government to release her counterpart fund for the Bodo-Bonny has made it difficult for several construction work to begin.”
The governor stated that the recourse to the piecemeal annual budgeting process would stall the project and charged the federal government to take funds from the Excess Crude Account to pay its counterpart fund.
He said the federal government did same thing on the Ogoni clean-up which has been abandoned.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, informed Wike that the train of the NLNG will become a reality in 2018. He said work on the project would be flagged off by the governor.
Attah disclosed that work has reached advanced stage on the construction of the headquarters of the NLNG in Port Harcourt.