Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Petetside, and a former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr. Austin Tam-George, have berated Governor Nyesom Wike, for Sunday’s revocation of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of Novotel Hotel, Port Harcourt.
Peterside, who described Wike’s action as the worse trait of fascism, however, said he had forewarned Rivers people and the international community.
The NIMASA chief, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 election, yesterday in a statement by his media team, said: “In 2015, I warned Rivers people, the international and business community that Wike should not be trusted to protect their investments and stakes.”
Tam-George, who recently resigned before Wike sacked his commissioners, also noted that if a business premises was suspected or established to be a crime scene, the police, acting on a court order, could move in to take control.
The ex-Information commissioner said: “It is extraordinary for a state government to revoke the Certificate of Occupancy of a business, simply because opposition politicians lodged there.
“Politicians in the state may think this is part of politics, but it is a hostile signal to the business and investment community that Rivers State is a turbulent environment, and that a 99-year land lease could be withdrawn erratically any minute, by the governor.”
Wike announced the revocation of the C of O of Novotel hotel on Sunday, while speaking at the second session of the third synod of Anglican Diocese of Evo in Rivers State, claiming that the facility has become the centre of electoral fraud and malpractice.
The NIMASA chief said: “Wike had sworn to uphold the Constitution without fear or favour, ill-will or malice against any citizen. It is now left to Wike and his conscience to check whether he has been faithful to his oath.
“The revocation order is nothing but a reckless, irresponsible and draconian act that could have only come from the desk of a fascist, despot and a dictator.
“When I heard that Wike revoked the C of O of Novotel Hotel, I thought it was a joke, until I saw a statement to that effect. In his trademark style of governance, he denied the management of Novotel Hotel any opportunity to respond to any accusation. Wike alone was the accuser, prosecutor, witness and jury in this matter.
“It is sad that at a time when Rivers State needs every investment it can muster to create jobs for youths, arrest insecurity and stabilise social relationships, Wike is busy closing established multinationals, global chains and respected franchise to which Novotel Hotel belongs. In his maladministration, Wike blames everybody, but himself, for the woes that have befallen Rivers State since he shot into the Office of the Governor.
“It is part of a government’s fundamental and social duty to create a conducive economic baseline for companies and firms to operate and expand their businesses, while new ones are attracted. Serious governments offer free land, tax rebate and other incentives to woo investors. But for Wike, his is to create joblessness and stifle companies struggling to break even.
“In this singular action, Wike must have pushed not less than 500 people into the labour market. The social and economic reactions would be dire on families, state and country. He has also raised an adverse business advisory to would-be investors, that Rivers State is not safe for investment.”
“By the singular act, he (Wike) advertised his contempt for hard work and industry. He twitched his nose against commerce. As a man who has no calculation of state interest in mind, he has added with his own hands to the pool of the unemployed in the state. It is frightful omen of unemployment in the context of the rise of criminality, violence, gangsterism and cultism under his watch as the chief steward of River State.”
Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, also expressed concern that the Rivers governor had formed the habit of going to churches to make pronouncements that had been at best ridiculous and attempts to hoodwink Christians into believing some of his baseless allegations.
He said: “I feel for him (Wike), because he will be disgraced out of power. Already, he is a shame in conduct, diction and association. Nobody can use the name of Christ in vain. God cannot be fooled and He cannot be mocked. The Church of Christ knows all political leaders and their antecedents.
“Recently, he (Wike) said Rivers State is a Christian state, real enough. The Bible says, among my people are wicked men. All may be called to the Church of Christ in Rivers, but Wike is among those not chosen. ”
