By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
In an effort to clear the air on the unhealthy rivalry with FCT, Minister Nyesom Wike Rivers State Government has denied allegations that it rejected an application by Wike and his allies to use the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia, for the inauguration of the Rivers State chapter of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors executives.<\/p>\n
Wike and his supporters had on Friday during the event at the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic in Rumuola, Port Harcourt, accused the Rivers State government of rejecting their application to use the stadium, describing the alleged refusal as “unacceptable and provocative”.<\/p>\n
The FCT Minister also vowed to forcefully break into, and make use of the facility or other public facilities in Rivers State for his future activities and that of his allies, including political rallies with or without approval from the state government.<\/p>\n
“For this event, we applied to use the stadium and they refused us. Let me make it clear: next time, if you don’t approve our request, we will break in and take it by force. Enough is enough. Nobody can deny us the facilities of the state,” Wike said.<\/p>\n
Responding, the Rivers State government dismissed the claims by the FCT Minister and his allies as false, stating that no formal request was received from any individual or group seeking to use the Yakubu Gowon Stadium.<\/p>\n
A statement by the Director of Publications, Rivers State Ministry of Information and Communication, Christian Davies said the Coordinating Commissioner for Sports, Barrister Christopher Green, had during an inspection tour of the facility, clarified that the stadium is currently under reconstruction and is therefore unsuitable for hosting any event. <\/p>\n
“I have not received any application from anybody to use this facility. And everyone in Rivers State is aware that the Yakubu Gowon Stadium is under reconstruction,” he said.<\/p>\n
Green explained that the reconstruction contract was awarded to Messrs Monimichelle to upgrade the stadium to meet FIFA and World Athletics standards.<\/p>\n
He added that the facility poses significant safety risks in its current state, with over 40,000 pipes underneath the main bowl, making it impossible and unsafe for any activity.<\/p>\n
The commissioner challenged claims that an application was submitted and rejected, insisting that no such correspondence exists. “If anyone claims that an application was received and rejected, let them provide proof. I have not seen any such letter,” he added.<\/p>\n
He also pointed out that alternative government-owned facilities, including the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium and the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, remain open for public use, stressing that the state government does not restrict access to its facilities without just cause.<\/p>\n
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr Honour Sirawoo, reiterated the state government’s commitment to initiatives that promote development and political stability in Rivers State. <\/p>\n
The Rivers Government accused the Renewed Hope Ambassadors of making false claims and trying to create a narrative that the government is against the President’s agenda. <\/p>\n
Sirawoo emphasized that the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara remains firmly supportive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and any genuine effort aimed at advancing his Renewed Hope agenda.<\/p>\n
He confirmed that checks with the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Government House, and the Ministry of Sports revealed that no application for the use of the Yakubu Gowon Stadium was received by any of the offices.<\/p>\n
“This facility is under construction and clearly not fit for use. There was no letter requesting its use. However, the venue used for the programme is government property and was freely available,” he explained.<\/p>\n
The site engineer, Engr Michael Ebitenye, who conducted a team of journalists around the site, explained that the facility was not safe for usage, given the volume of works being done and associated ongoing excavation.<\/p>\n
The government urged the public to disregard the claims made by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, saying that they are baseless and politically motivated, while assuring its commitment to supporting the President’s initiatives and promoting development in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent In an effort to clear the air on the unhealthy rivalry with FCT, Minister Nyesom Wike Rivers State Government has denied allegations that it rejected an application by Wike and his allies to use the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia, for the inauguration of the Rivers State chapter of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[80,2595,384],"class_list":["post-10729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-facilities","tag-facility","tag-public"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10731,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10729\/revisions\/10731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}