I’m not scared of anything, anybody, Fubara declares

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has said he is neither scared of anything nor anybody, saying he has records to show all his activities followed approval.

The governor said everything he is doing is in a white paper devoid of any manipulation.

Fubara assured that his administration will continue to deliver projects that impact positively on the people directly while also empowering them to live better lives.

The governor stated that the Egbeda Internal Roads Project has been accomplished to both satisfy the needs of the people by making them happy and solving the perennial flooding problems experienced in the area.

He gave the assurance at Egbeda Community Secondary School field, the venue of the inauguration of the Egbeda Internal Roads project in Emohua Local Government Area on Tuesday.

Acknowledging the support of the people before, during and after the elections, he said what his administration owed them was the dividends of democracy that included projects and social service delivery.

He said, “One thing is awarding a job, another is delivering in record time. I want to thank the contractor for standing by his words.

“Let me also thank the great people of Egbeda, and by extension, the Emohua Local Government Area for your support before, during and after the elections. You have shown so much support.

“And for us, what do we owe you? We owe you the dividends of democracy. And what are the dividends of democracy? Service to our people!”

Fubara further said, “There is nothing wrong in rebuilding a road, there is nothing wrong in promising to develop an area. But what is important is when you want to do those things, do them to the satisfaction of the people.

“And what we have done here in Egbeda today is not just building the internal roads, but meeting your needs, solving your flood problem, that is what we have done.

“So, I want to also thank you for your support, because you cooperated with the contractor, that is why he delivered in record time.”

Fubara reiterated that the projects people are seeing were accomplishments of four months because his administration started taking decisions and confronting governance in February 2024.

He said, “We are just starting but I assure you more attention. If in four months, we can do this, and we are getting this level of applause, you can imagine what will happen when we do one year of our record time and two years of our own record time, Rivers State will have experienced something different from the regular governance.

“I know why I said four months. We started full governance in February 2024. That was when we started making decisions when we started confronting governance. And I am proud to say that our people are happy with what we have done.

“What we want to do is to bring governance to our people, service delivery at record time, and in a cost-effective way.

“Everything that we are doing is in my white paper. I carry it along, so, there is no issue of any manipulation. Call me any day, anytime, it is there. Even the ones I did before this time, I still have all the records.

“If you call me any day, I will bring the records of all my activities in government, because I know that as a civil servant, what is most important is record keeping; so that if you are not there, and something happens, it is just for somebody to pick up the file and he will see the history.

“That is how I am trained, and I have that in my mind before I do anything. So, I am not scared of anything. Anybody who calls me any day, anytime, I have my records to show. I have all the approvals to show that I acted based on approval and not personal decision,” he said.

In response to the request made by the Egbeda community, Fubara granted the extension of work on the road from Egbeda to Omerelu and promised to upgrade the community secondary school without inclusion of boarding facilities.

Performing the inauguration of the project, Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, said he drove with Governor Fubara on the road while accessing the venue of the event, and can testify of the commitment of his brother governor to sustain infrastructure development in the State.

He said, “This road project at Egbeda bears true testimony of the commitment of the Rivers State Government towards fulfilling its promise of sustainable infrastructure development of the State.

“It is reassuring that these all-season roads will economically empower, not only the people of Egbeda but the entire Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.

“With these roads, the people will enjoy better socio-economic empowerment and integration between the local government and the rest of the state.”

Describing the project, Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Works, Atemea Briggs, said the construction of the Egbeda Internal Roads project was delivered within schedule and fully paid for.

He explained that the internal roads were initially awarded by the immediate past administration on March 9, 2023, to Monier Construction Company Nigeria Limited (MCC) at a cost of N3.87bn.

“Later on November 27, 2023, the contract was reversed to include additional roads to better serve the Egbeda community. As a result, the reverse contract sum was increased to N12bn.

“Before our Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara took office on May 29, 2023, only N1.5billion of the contract sum had been paid by the previous administration,” he said.

Engr Briggs said the roads entailed an increase of the total lanes from 9.32 kilometres to 21.5 kilometres, and the total drainage length to 25.4 kilometres.

On his part, the Chairman, Board of Directors of Monier Construction Company, Senator John Azuta Mbata, expressed gratitude to the governor for giving them the honour to handle the project.