Wike scrapped scholarship for N300m mobile bullet-proof offices, lawyer alleges

A Port-Harcourt based lawyer, Charles O. Aholu has accused Governor Nyesom Wike of River State of insensitivity, saying the governor while complaining of lack of funds scrapped the state’s Overseas Scholarship programme, but allegedly spent about N300 million to procure two mobile state of the art bullet proof mobile offices.

The lawyer in an open letter to the governor, said that the move defies wonder as the automobiles were procured at a period of austerity and great economic strain.

The vehicles were first noticed at the Governor’s interdenominational Thanksgiving Service held last Sunday at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium.

While noting that he may not have the details of the sum spent on the new toys, Aholu called on the governor to make public to people of the state, details of the money spent in acquiring the vehicles.

According to him, there is a need to put Wike’s appetite for princely robes, real estate, automobiles and bank-breaking alcoholic beverages in check.

Read also: Attention-seeking? Uba wants chance to grow Nigeria’s IGR by 30%

He said, “Please sir, don’t be mad at me for revealing the golden nature of your taste. It is not in doubt that you are a man with a grand appetite for grandeur. That is not a secret at all. From your acquisition of choice properties during your reign as Chief of staff to your former boss now turned enemy, to your accession to the laudable comforts of posh automobiles, you have displayed affection for luxury worthy of emulation by aspiring politicians who see you as a role model.

“But my worry sir, is that you have decided not to put your taste for these automobiles in check.”

He noted that Governor Wike is the first governor to have purchased these luxury mobile offices in Nigeria, for which he said, “great operational expenses would be incurred.”

On the cost of the acquisitions, he also said “I hope the amount will not be shrouded in mystery? I hope it will not suffer the same fate as the 2016 Appropriation Bill which has remained a privately classified document?”

RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now