By Adadainfo
Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Friday, showered praises upon President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the payment of funds owed to Niger-Delta states since 1999.
Wike stated this during the inauguration of the Nabo Graham Douglas campus of the Nigerian Law School in Rumueme, Port Harcourt.
According to Wike, the payment of the funds had assisted the infrastructural development of his administration.
He said the projects that were recently inaugurated were fully paid for, adding that more projects would be completed before the end of his tenure.
Wike said the funds approved by the federal government were funds owed from the 13 percent derivation fund.
Quoting him, “Let me say it for the first time. So many people asked me: ‘where is he getting this money’? Let me say it. I want, through the attorney-general of the federation, to thank Mr President.
“Monies that were not paid to the Niger-Delta states since 1999 — the 13 percent deductions — monies that were not paid, Mr President approved and paid all of us from the Niger Delta states.
“And for me, it would be unfair not to tell the public. It is not from FAAC money. It is the money that is supposed to be for Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Edo, and Bayelsa states.
“Yesterday, we commissioned the ninth flyover. In December, we will commission the tenth flyover. By February next year, we will commission eleventh and twelfth flyovers.
“So, I want to sincerely from the heart and on behalf of the government and people of the state, thank Mr President for this, because as an opposition government, he could have said ‘don’t pay’. You can’t do anything.
“Since 1999, the money has not been paid. Did we do anything? So, I want to sincerely thank him.”
