The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has commended the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike for affirming that President Muhammadu Buhari has not abandoned any part of the country.
According to the group, this is contrary to the position of a socio-cultural group in the region, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), led by Chief Edwin Clark which recently claimed that the Buhari administration had exhibited bias against the Niger Delta in the last five years.
BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, that Governor Wike has proved PANDEF wrong and confirmed what it had always said about the President.
“Like many Nigerians, we were surprised to see Governor Wike taking out full-page adverts in national dailies, as well as issuing a personally signed press statement thanking the President for approving the refund of N78.9bn to Rivers State Government, a refund for the execution of Federal Government road projects in the State.
“This is because he is one of the most influential figures in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with a habit of criticizing the President, the last being his sharp rebuke of the Federal Government for allegedly politicizing efforts to contain coronavirus by giving Lagos State a grant of N10bn.
“So we hail Governor Wike for his courage to confirm what we have always said about President Buhari as a selfless and nationalistic minded leader, not the picture the opposition had always sought to impose on Nigerians.
“We, however, wish to add here that the President has in the last five years paid attention to the completion of the long-abandoned Bonny-Bodo road and bridge project, the Itakpe-Warri railway project as well as provide support for the establishment of six private modular refineries in the Niger Delta region.
“This is in addition to the take-off of the Maritime University in Delta state, the ongoing National oil and gas park scheme in the region and of course the East-West road that has been ongoing since 2006”, the group said.
It added that the President did what no previous leader had done by releasing in excess of N700bn in two tranches to all 36 States for the reconstruction of federal roads.
“We need to put it on record that no government has refunded this much to State governments for Federal roads. Even the over N500m reimbursed to States before now was done at a time that the Buhari administration could have used ongoing capital projects as an excuse but it didn’t.
“It is not a coincidence that a large percentage of the value of the refund went to States with PDP governors, but this is a President that believes in the Federal system and has no qualms with ensuring that the sub nationals get their due, regardless of party affiliation.
“It is therefore not surprising that Governors from the South-East geopolitical zone have always made it clear that the President has been fair to the States in the region in terms of developmental projects.
“Now that the Rivers State governor has affirmed the fair-minded nature of President Buhari very publicly, we hope that this will be a learning curve for other PDP national leaders”.
The group also reassured Nigerians that the President will continue to make decisions that will show his national outlook.