A former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, has described as lies allegations by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that he failed to execute or complete contracts awarded to him.
Secondus said he had never been a contractor and never bid for or collected any contract from the state as alleged by the governor.
The governor had during the commissioning of the Eneka-Igbo Etche Road project on Friday accused Secondus of failing to execute the contracts he got from the state government. He said in some instances, the contract sum was fully paid but the projects were not completed. He challenged the former party chairman to name any road contract he was awarded that he completed.
But in his response on Saturday, Secondus told Sunday PUNCH in a short interview, “I have never been a contractor. I did not collect or bid for any contract in Rivers State or from his government as alleged by the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
“It is wrong of him to make such weighty allegations without any evidence. Let him do his investigation and go to the Corporate Affairs Commission to get the details of the companies he has given contracts to or those that the state gave contracts. I am not one of them.
“With his status, it is wrong for him to buy airtime from television stations and be dishing out outright lies and half-truths. Is he the owner of Julius Berger, which has done so well in the state by executing contracts running into hundreds of billions of naira?”
Secondus said he would rather focus on working for the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, to win the February 25 presidential election.
Secondus stated, “As for me, I am not a violent man and I remain committed to the victory of our presidential candidate and his running mate, Atiku Abubakar and Ifeanyi Okowa in the forthcoming presidential election. I call on Governor Wike to join hands with progressive-minded people in Nigeria to be part of a positive history. I am sure he loves the PDP and won’t do anything to jeopardise its victory at any level. I wish the governor a happy and prosperous new year.”