PDP faults APC on development in Rivers

PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has faulted a statement credited to the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ascribing the infrastructural development of the state to Governor Rotimi Amaechi. Describing the statement as untrue and misleading, the opposition party in the state, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by Mr Jerry Needam, media aide to its chairman, said most of the projects the APC government was laying claim to were initiated and completed by former Governor Peter Odili. It said some “few over blown and extravagantly funded selective projects executed by Governor Amaechi cannot be compared to the widely applaudable and enduring development legacies of Dr Odili, who bequeathed to Rivers people what even the present administration in the state finds difficult to match with.” Needam, also disagreed with the Rivers APC Chairman, Mr Davies Ikanya and his media aide, Chief Chukuwemeka Eze, for portraying the facilities at the Greater Port Harcourt City as those only obtainable in modern cities of Europe. He said the stand of the two APC chieftains exposed their ignorance and local mentality, explaining that the state of facilities and edifices in known Europe countries cannot be compared to those obtainable in the Rivers capital city. PDP also faulted APC for describing Amaechi as an icon of democracy and an embodiment of development, claiming that there were no on- going tangible developmental projects in the state to warrant such a claim. “This is even as he (Amaechi) has abandoned state affairs and the few development initiatives he made before joining APC and which have become paralysed following his persistent unchecked trips outside the state for his selfish political ambition”, Needam said. He challenged APC to show records of its professed improvement in economic investment in the state, adding that while Port Harcourt had assumed World Book Capital status, the effort was the result of the collective efforts of PDP team players from the regime of Dr Peter Odili before he (Amaechi) defected to APC. “To also set the records straight, the Amaechi’s theoretical free education and the free health care programmes in the state initiated by Dr Peter Odili and inherited by him (Amaechi) have completely failed and was non-functional in all the schools and health centres in the state under his administration.