Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers state says most of the projects commissioned by Nyesom Wike, his predecessor, were not fully paid for.

Fubara spoke on Tuesday during the commissioning of the Aleto-Ogale-Ebubu-Eteo road in Eleme LGA of Rivers.

The Rivers governor said contractors who executed projects commissioned by the Wike’s administration have started to request their balance payments.

Fubara said his administration is battling the problem of debt, adding that he is exercising restraint not to reveal certain things.

“This project was awarded at the cost of N6.7 billion, and I can say boldly that no kobo is remaining,” the Rivers governor said.

“We have paid the contractor completely without owing. The purpose of this is to let the world know that if there is one problem this administration has, it is debt.

“Most of the projects commissioned (referring to the last administration), they (the contractors) are coming for their balance payments, which are running into millions and billions.

“I have said I don’t want to talk because I am part of that system, but when they keep pushing me, I will say it.”

Fubara added that the claim that his administration is fighting with the federal government is untrue.

He noted that despite the support given to the state by the federal government, an insider is frustrating the efforts.

“I heard someone say that when we came in, we were fighting the federal government,” he said.

“If we are fighting FG, it’s a different matter. We are talking about the FG that is giving us support while there is a rat inside the house eating the bag of garri.”

Since 2023, Fubara and Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), have been at loggerheads over the political control of the state.

The rift has led to the polarisation of the Rivers state house of assembly.

While attending an event in Rivers at the weekend, Wike apologised for backing Fubara to succeed him as governor, adding that he would correct that mistake in 2027.

On Monday, Fubara said a judicial panel of inquiry would be set up to investigate the management of the state’s resources and affairs under past administrations.

Fubara succeeded Wike as governor in May 2023. He was the accountant-general under the former governor.

In May 2022, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared Fubara and 58 others wanted over an alleged N435 billion fraud.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released an additional 36,540 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results which were earlier withheld for further investigation.

Disclosing this in a statement on Tuesday, JAMB’s spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, said the latest release was in addition to the 531 results released the previous week, bringing the total results released to 1,879,437.

He also denied claims purporting to emanate from the board that the outstanding 2024 UTME results, currently being subjected to intense scrutiny by its team of experts, had been compromised on account of a cyber security breach and that it is considering rescheduling the examination.

Benjamin asked the public to disregard the report, saying it was created by fraudsters who are out to dupe the unsuspecting members of the public.

“In another development, the attention of the Board was drawn to a fictitious letter concocted by a fraudster and circulated on social media purporting to emanate from the Board stating that the outstanding 2024 UTME results, currently being subjected to intense scrutiny by its team of experts, had been compromised on account of a cyber security breach and that it is considering rescheduling the examination.

“This is far from the truth as the said letter did not emanate from the Board. In fact, a closer look at the letter, which was not signed by any person, lacked every ingredient of a letter from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board. The letter is, therefore, from those, who wish to destroy the integrity of the Board, by compromising its unassailable operational processes to mislead hapless candidates with the sole aim of extorting them.

“The Board reiterated, for the umpteenth time, that the results of its 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and other previous years are intact, not in any cloud storage and can, therefore, not be hacked by anybody.

“It is to be recalled that at the release of the 2024 UTME, the Board had announced that some results had been withheld as they were being subjected to further investigation. Out of these, 531 results were released recently. Others found to be involved in any examination misconduct are still undergoing investigation as the Board would want to review all the footage of all CCTV cameras placed in all its accredited centres to ascertain the candidate’s culpability or otherwise,” the statement read.

1. Osun State Police Command, on Tuesday, said it has arrested a former manager in one of the branches of a first-generation bank in Osogbo, Mr Adeniyi Talabi, for allegedly stealing a sum of N650m belonging to 35 customers of the bank.

2. Niger State House of Assembly Speaker, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji has lashed out at the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, for opposing his decision to sponsor the wedding of 100 girls orphaned by banditry. He said she was being misled. Sarkindaji told reporters that the minister does not know anything about his constituency and their needs and has no right to criticise his decision.

3. Reversal of the hike in electricity tariff will be a setback for the transformation of the energy sector to boost supply to Nigerians, Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said on Tuesday. He appealed to Labour to see reason with the government.

4. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, said Tuesday that petrol stations are to have points of sale for Compressed Natural Gas, CNG. The agency’s Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, broke the news to reporters after a meeting with high volume suppliers of petroleum products in Abuja.

5. The ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ebonyi has pegged the forms for local government chairmanship election at N25 million and that of councillor at N210,000. The party’s chairman in the state, Stanley Emegha, announced this in a statement in Abakaliki, the state capital.

6. Operatives of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, expanded its clampdown on Bureau De Change operators, arresting traders in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt. This came as the naira weakened further against the United States dollar at both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.

7. After several weeks of hiatus, the tripartite committee set up by the Federal Government will finally meet today (Wednesday), May 15, 2024, sources familiar with the matter confirmed the development. The Labour unions also stood their ground on their proposal of N615,000 minimum wage while insisting on the May 31, 2024 deadline.

8. A member of the House of Representatives representing Zurmi/Shinkafa Federal Constituency, Bello Hassan, on Tuesday, said bandits had attacked no fewer than 50 communities in the Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State. He said the incessant attacks by the bandits had forced residents of the affected communities to abandon their ancestral homes.

9. Loud explosions were heard at the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria gas processing plant at Gbarain, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Tuesday. Thick smoke was seen rising into the sky, raising concerns of gas export disruptions as the gas plant feeds the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas export terminal in the Bonny Island area of the state.

10. Rivers State Government is under a debt burden imposed by the soaring cost of projects initiated by my predecessor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara said on Tuesday. He said many contractors were demanding outstanding payments running to billions of naira, which former Governor Nyesom Wike could not redeem before handing over last year.