TheCable

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, says President Muhammadu Buhari approved the payment of funds owed to states in the Niger Delta since 1999.

Wike said this on Friday at the inauguration of the Nabo Graham Douglas campus of the Nigerian Law School in Rumueme, Port Harcourt.

Wike said the funds have significantly aided his infrastructural strides in the state, adding that the projects that were recently inaugurated have been fully paid for, and more will be completed before the end of his tenure.

According to Rivers governor, the money approved by Buhari were funds owed from the 13 percent derivation fund.

He, however, did not give specifics on the funds approved by the president.

“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,” he said.

“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.”