The Government of Cross River State has reacted to the claim by BudgIT that the government of Prof. Ben Ayade was taking steps that would plunge the state into untold hardship.
The state government had reportedly transmitted a letter to the House of Assembly to approve modalities for the repayment through Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) for N300 million per month for a period of 180 years.
BudgIT had warned the state government to halt its controversial Superhighway project on the ground of undue financial hazard and avoidable hardship that would plague the state for the next hundred years.
But in a statement to DAILY POST from Cross River State Ministry of Information on Friday, the government accused a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, Odey Oyama, of propagating the falsehood.
The statement read, “The attention of the Cross River state government has been drawn to a publication by BudgIT, ostensibly instigated and sponsored by a serial blackmailer, Odey Oyama.
“Apart from being a blackmailer, Oyama is also a hustler and scammer. A man with no visible and verifiable means of livelihood other than prancing media houses as self appointed watch dog of Cross River rainforest.
“Oyama has no qualms standing truth and logic on their heads provided such action earns him lurid monetary gains. At the last count, Oyama has held well over 50 press conferences, summits on the superhighway, with full expenses borne by his foreign paymasters.
“Oyama also shamelessly engages in other survival strategies like sponsoring protests in the forest communities. This usually pays off through settlement with the communities by the state government with the self-anointed conservationist as the middle man in the settlement.
“Oyama has for four years running turned the Cross River State superhighway project into his “oil bloc”, spewing falsehood, raising false alarms and in the process mindlessly scamming unsuspecting foreign NGOs of millions of Naira.
“Having failed to halt the project using dubious environmental concerns, Oyama has changed tactics.
“He is now spewing new lies about the Project by throwing mud at the governor and seeking to paint the picture of lack of transparency.
“Let it be known that every standard due process was observed in the award of the contract.
“For the records, the project was advertised in the Cross River State Tenders Journal, The Nation and Vanguard Newspapers of Thursday March 22, 2018; Nigerian Chronicle of Wednesday March 21 to Tuesday March 27, 2018.
“There was also the board resolution for the expression of interest to bid and engagement of contractors on January 5, 2018.
“Funding for the project was also included in the 2018 state budget and captured in the Cross River State Chart of Account 2018 on Page 827 Additionally, the state executive council met and approved the project on May 30, 2018.
“To ensure a transparent bidding process, critical stakeholders like civil society and non-governmental organizations and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were invited to be a part of the process.
“It is imperative to mention that big players in the construction industry like Setraco, Julius Berger and China Railway Engineering were part of the process.
“The contract was however, awarded to the firm with the lowest responsible bid. So in terms of value for money, nowhere else in the world will the contract cost for a six lane, 274km superhighway, be lower than the cost for the Cross River superhighway.
“It should be clear to Oyama that his tricks are now old and therefore, easy to see through them. It is time therefore, for him to look for a decent means of livelihood as the days of blackmail for patronage are over.”
