…… Says Govs, NWC Will Collaborate To Achieve That
….. Lauds Gov Wike For Fight To End Soot In The State
The Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ambassador Desmond Akawor has expressed optimism that the new National leadership of the party would work relentlessly and cooperatively with PDP Governors to rescue Nigeria from bad governance.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen in his office in Port Harcourt on Monday 17th January, 2022, Ambassador Akawor who said Nigerians are fed up with the APC, opined that they would support the PDP to return to power, having compared what their condition of living was when the PDP was in power at the centre and what it is today under the APC-led government.
The state PDP Chairman regretted that Nigeria which was the fastest growing economy in Africa under the PDP led Federal Government has today under an APC government become the World’s Poverty Capital.
He said under the APC-led Federal Government, insecurity has become the order of the day, noting that no day passes without news of people being killed in parts of the country.
“There is no way PDP Governors will meet without discussing about the security situation of the country. Security is very crucial because people are dying everyday.
Everyday people wake up in the morning to hear that 30 people have been killed in Kaduna, 20 people have been killed in Benue so so number of people in Borno. It is happening everyday, even yesterday 25 people were killed in Kaduna.
“I am sure you are aware that the country is in the intensive care unit, (ICU) and bleeding. Listening to our brothers from North East, North West and North Central, you will know that Nigerians are going through excruciating pains and these Governors and the National Working Committee are determined to rescue Nigerians from the problem of bad leadership”.
Ambassador Akawor asserted that Rivers People are happy and elated that the 13 PDP Governors were in the state, noting that what is particularly unique about the visit is that they were in a state that is totally PDP.
“They are in a state where the DNA of the people is PDP and the texture of the soil is also PDP”.
Commenting on the ban on the activities of Artisenal Refiners by Governor Nyesom Wike, the former Ambassador to South Korea said the move was a step in the right direction as it is aimed at ending the continuous emmission of soot caused by incomplete combustion of gas into the atmosphere due to the illegal activities of oil bunkerers, otherwise known as ‘Kpofire’.
He explained that the current action by Governor Wike followed the inability of the Federal Government to act on the report of the Committee on Soot set up by the State government to look into the causes of the soot which has since been submitted to them.
“You are aware that the issue that has to do with Oil and Gas is under the exclusive list, hence the state government has to send the report of the committee it set up, comprising Academics and Officials of Ministry of Environment to the Federal Government and waited for them to take action, but nothing was done and instead of the soot to nosedive, it is escalating everyday, and the Governor true to his word, the man who has a covenant with his people to save the life of his people decided to take the bull by the horn.
He decided on his own with the support of some security agencies to locate the sites of those illegal refineries.
Luckily I was in the trip where we visited Igbodo, Isiokpo and Ibaa and saw all these things. You can imagine the level of illegal oil bunkering activities going on there”.
The PDP Chairman who appealed to the Police high command to apply appropriate punitive measures on the DPO alleged to have owned an illegal refinery in one of the communities visited, argued that transfer is a normal routine in the force and not a punishment, expressing the hope that the NSCDC which has since dissolve its own team will also take appropriate action on culprits.
He said those trying to paint political colouration to the move to end illegal refineries that had made every resident of the state potential smoker with serious health implications are wicked and enemies of the state.
“There is nothing you do today that people would not bring politics into it.
If an armed robber is caught, they will even say that he belongs to PDP, he belongs to APGA or he belongs to labour party. But the most important question is that was he caught in armed robbery.
We are talking about Artisenal refineries, illegal bunkering, people who are committing economic sabotage and when the name is mentioned, somebody will say because he is APC, he is PDP, he is APGA.
That is not the issue. Anybody who thinks that way is wicked. Anybody who thinks that way does not mean well for the state”.
The former Federal Capital Territory Minister who insisted that whoever is found guilty of involvement in illegal oil production activities in the state should be made to face the music insisted that security agencies would not prosecute someone who is not involved in the act.
“Anybody who is arrested would be handed over to the security agencies; it is a federal agency and the person will be prosecuted.
If you are exonerated, the person will go home, but if you are guilty, you will be punished whether you are PDP or not.
But the problem is that some of these people because of their attitude to life, because of the way they behaved, they think Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike will play the same game like them. He is not that kind of person.
As far as he is concerned, he is the Governor of Rivers State not the Governor of PDP”.
Answering a question on whether those to be disengaged from illegal bunkering activities would be given alternative means of livelihood, Ambassador Akawor explained that those involved in the act are criminals and should be treated as such while those who had since abandoned Kpofire business and wanted to do genuine business could be encouraged and assisted, regretting that most of them are not ready for such opportunities.
