Rivers: Fubara’s first 100 days in office have been met with criticism

Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers State, has planned a number of events to commemorate his first 100 days in office.

According to the governor, the festivities, which will include project commissioning and flag-off, would span from September through October.

“In my inaugural speech, we promised to consolidate and continue the new Rivers Vision by committing to maintaining the momentum of development set by our immediate past governor, who is now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, His Excellency, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike,” Fubara said in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday.

“I am both proud and grateful to say that we have stayed the course after 100 days.

“Taking one step at a time, we have kept our eyes focused on this goal, made steady gains, and delivered on the bold promises we made on the campaign trail, despite the economic challenges.”

The governor claimed that while some of the upcoming projects were inherited from the previous administration, others were started by his administration.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led state government was accused by the main opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), of making “bogus claims and promises without empirical evidences accompanied by timelines to deliver on such promises” in its assessment of Fubara’s first 100 days in office.

Despite praising the governor for giving the state secretariat complex a facelift within his first 100 days in office, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Darlington Nwauju, pointed out that it is untrue for Fubara’s administration to claim that “the state’s free WAEC/NECO policy achieved a 100% success given the fact that school principals were caught with evidence of extorting parents.”

The opposition party also claimed that one of the enduring accomplishments of Governor Fubara’s administration was the corrupt behaviour of government employees in the state Ministry of Education who “shamelessly trade in distributing postings for WAEC/NECO exams’ supervision while compelling school principals to make returns on these external exams.”

In addition, the APC noted that “while it is true that government is a continuum,” Fubara should have given credit to former governor Rotimi Amaechi, whose administration purchased the luxury buses used as band-aids to ease the cost of transportation. The APC also commented on the release of free buses to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy in the state.

The APC in the state added that it was not persuaded by the “scientific logic behind the Port Harcourt Ring Road project given that Rivers residents and people have not been educated on the Environmental Impact Assessment of such a project that will undoubtedly have a negative impact on people’s health and quality of life.”

As a legacy project of his administration, Governor Fubara flagged off the 50.15 KM dual carriage Port Harcourt Ring Road project on July 17, 2023, for a cost of N200 billion.

The governor hopes that the project, which would connect six local government areas in the state, will expand and relieve congestion in Port Harcourt.

Numerous organisations, including the South-South Youth Initiative, SSYI, have voiced their strong opposition to the road project and the funding allocated for it.

“We hear that Governor Fubara has conceived the ring-road project to be sited in Port Harcourt, the same place the former administration, his benefactor, carried out all his acclaimed developmental projects,” said SSYI in a statement by its president, Saviour Oscar.

“While we deplore the state’s attempt to revert to a visionless leadership style, which was sparked by the recently ended administration of Chief Nyesom Wike, we implore Governor Fubara to consider extending development to all 21 of the state’s local government areas.

“The fact that development is evenly distributed across all of Lagos State’s local government areas has made it stand out among other states in the country. This has made sure that everyone is developing properly. If you visit Lagos State now, you will see that the entire state has been transformed into a city.

Cyril Hart, who represents the Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency and is a representative for Rivers State in the House of Representatives, praised the initiative and called it mind-blowing.

“This idea is a stroke of genius and a game-changer for Rivers State’s economy. Linking six local government districts entails the creation of both direct and indirect jobs as well as chances after construction, according to Hart.

By taking up the initiatives left unfinished by the Wike government, the governor has kept his promise to build on the accomplishments of his predecessor during the past 100 days.

Fubara appointed his commissioners soon after taking office, and the state House of Assembly gave its approval to each one.

The commissioners have been referred to as “carry-over commissioners” from the prior government by a number of people, including opposition parties and NGOs in the state.

The governor also fired recently hired lecturers and non-academic personnel from the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education in Rivers State, among many other measures performed during that time that have drawn criticism.

The governor claims that the impacted employees were fired when it was determined that there were anomalies in the hiring procedure.

Before being relieved of their tasks, the personnel had put in eight months of labour without receiving compensation.

Additionally, Fubara has failed to finish the 10,000 employment process that the previous administration started.

Wike had promised the residents of Rivers that Fubara would continue with the hiring process, but many have assumed that it has been abandoned.

Many state citizens who work in government were asked by OBASANJO NEWS24 for their opinions on Fubara’s first 100 days in power.

He hasn’t begun work, one of them added, declining to be identified. The fuel subsidy intervention is the only thing I have ever heard him say.

“If all he has done is order Wike’s initiatives, he hasn’t even begun.

“The only thing he has done well is that he is an obedient servant; he is completing and not abandoning his master’s projects.”

Another person remarked, “The workers have not seen any concrete actions taken by the current state government. We are seeing the current governor of the state as though he is following orders from the previous one.

However, a separate resident has a different viewpoint. He thinks that the new government is only getting settled.

“The governor is aware of the people’s situation and is equipped to deal with it. We just need to give him a little bit of time to get used to the office because he just arrived. I think he’ll accomplish a lot like Wike.

Fubara has been successful in launching a health insurance programme in the state despite the objections.

Speaking at the beginning of the three-day workshop on the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme, the state commissioner for health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, said the programme will give people who cannot afford to pay for medical services a platform to be covered by equity funding and subsidies.

Oreh continued by saying that the programme was “in line with Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s vision to improve the quality and affordable health care in the state”.

The start of the programme was announced as one of the events planned to commemorate Fubara’s 100 days in office.

However, the health insurance programme, commissioning of finished road work and school improvements, as well as the launching of new projects in the state, may lessen the criticism that the current administration is now receiving.