The demolition of Bayelsa State’s property in Port Harcourt was attributed to the government’s failure to lead by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
The governor, who stated that he had no apologies for the demolition of the property in question, elaborated on the circumstances that led to it during a briefing with journalists at the Port Harcourt International Airport upon his return from Europe on Thursday.
In line with the urban renewal programme of the Rivers State government, Wike stated that a formal letter was written to the Bayelsa State government in August 2021 regarding the deteriorating property inherited from the Old Rivers State.
“It is most unfortunate, when you have leadership failure that is what you get. I have never seen a hostile government against Rivers State government like that of Bayelsa. It’s most unfortunate. When I was away, I read from the media the rantings of the Bayelsa State government through the Commissioner for Lands.
“In August 2021, we wrote to the Bayelsa State government that with urban renewal policy and with the money we have spent, that it will be unfair to us if we allow such property belonging to them to remain there without any, maybe, a new development.”
Speaking further, Wike said he had met severally with his Bayelsa counterpart, and enjoined him to either renovate or build a benefitting edifice on the parcel of land because the formal existing structure contravened the Rivers State Urban Renewal Policy.
“I spoke to the governor of Bayelsa State, Douyi Diri, severally. I said look, ‘it is better you renovate, bring down or build a new thing for your State’. I am not claiming that the property belongs to us, but we have a right to talk about development in our State. No State can determine the level of development that should occur in another State.
“So, in 2021 August, not only did I write a letter to him, in all our meetings then, I told him, ‘if you cannot develop it, you can sell the property back to Rivers State government, we are willing to develop it, but we cannot allow that property to be the way it is’.”
He further stated that Diri acknowledged that it was unacceptable for the property to remain in its dilapidated state, adding that he made the statement in the presence of the governors of Oyo and Adamawa States.
