The Pro-Democracy Coalition of Nigeria has advised the candidate of the Action People’s Party (APP) in the 2023 governorship election in Rivers State, Lessi Gborogbosi, to forget about his governorship ambitions come 2027.
In a statement signed by its president, Comrade Jack Thomas, the group said Gborogbosi should wake up from his dream of succeeding Governor Siminalayi Fubara in 2027.
The group said the Rivers people are still enjoying their honeymoon with Fubara over his performance so far and do not intend to end their union any time soon.
The statement reads: “We read a press statement from Dr Lessi Gborogbosi, issued in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, wherein he referred to himself as the next governor of Rivers State.
“The statement that has been reported in several national dailies is nothing other than a figment of the imagination of Gborogbosi, who seems not to be aware of the giant strides of Governor Fubara, which have given birth to the honeymoon between the people of Rivers State and the governor.
“As a pro-democracy group, it is pertinent to inform Gborogbosi why it is impossible for Fubara to hand over to him in 2027.
“In less than one year, Fubara invested over half a trillion Naira in critical infrastructure in Rivers State.
These include the Port Harcourt Ring Road, Omoku, and Kalabari Super Highways. Many of these projects have commenced and are at different levels of completion.
“A few days ago, the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo unity road project was inaugurated. This is a project that was initiated by the former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, who left office in May 2007.
“The Rivers State Executive Council has approved N80 billion for the Elele-Omoku road project that will traverse three local government areas of the State: Ikwerre, Emohua and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni.
“The Fubara administration, through the Rivers State Micro Finance Agency (RIMA), in partnership with and with the technical support of Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BoI), has disbursed N4 billion to businesses in the nano sector as well as the small and medium enterprise subsector, from N400,000 to N10 million each.
“Under Fubara, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Rivers State has also been boosted from the monthly IGR of N12 billion that he met on assumption of office to N27 billion. This represents an increase of over 100 per cent.
“The Fubara administration is also set to employ 10,000 workers in the state civil service, aside from clearing the backlog of promotions and pension arrears.
“With the monumental achievements of Governor Fubara in less than one year, despite the huge distraction from enemies of Rivers State, the covalent bond between the governor and the people of Rivers State cannot be broken in 2027.
“It is necessary to inform Gborogbosi that Rivers people are not in a hurry to end their honeymoon with Fubara in 2027.”
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