Despite the assurances by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and his political team mates that the monorail project is realizable which the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Rivers State chapter describes as a white lie, deceptive and precarious, the party says it has gone ahead to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the white elephant project.
The ACN in a statement issued and signed by the party’s Spokesman, Jerry Needam said the call on EFCC to investigate the handlers of the Monorail project has become imperative following the sudden withdrawal of government’s partner in the project and the uneasy calm the development has generated.
Insisting that the monorail project is a product of blurred vision and complete waste of public funds, Jerry Needam said in its effort to convince the Rivers people on the false frugality of the Amaechi administration, it has been one story or the other, often conflicting with earlier statements.
Jerry Needam queried the rationale for abandoning the supposed equipments for the Monorail project at Onne port where they are incurring huge demurrage at the expense of Rivers State government if the claims of Amaechi’s Commissioner for Transport, George Tolofari were anything to go by.
“It’s regrettable that everything about the monorail project is shrouded in secrecy, ranging from the actual amount of the project, the name(s) of the contract partners, reasons for the withdrawal midway into the agreement, the reason for the snail speed trailing the work, the actual amount paid to property owners whose property were demolished to make way for the project as all these have raised too many unaddressed questions, complaints and even court threats” the ACN noted.
At best, the ACN concludes, the Monorail project has only succeeded in creating jobs for political jobbers with little or no technical knowledge of such’dream’ project but who flood the Board as members and technical crew etc.
“In the light of all this, the EFCC has no excuse not to embark on this mother of all investigations in the State”, Jerry Needam remarked.
Jerry Needam
Publicity Secretary
ACN, Rivers State
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
