ALL Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday challenged Governor Nyesom Wike to prove the economic benefits of the state owned Legacy 600, the Embraer A600 aircraft recovered from Germany, to Rivers people.
Rivers APC in a reflection by Darlington Nwauju, Spokesman, on the recovered aircraft, after 10 years abandonment in Germany by Rivers government under Rotimi Amaechi, argued that there is no economic benefit of a private jet to the people of Rivers.
Nwauju stated, “We like to educate the state government on what to do with the aircraft if it’s difficult to understand that there is a global economic meltdown and governments all over the world have their sleeves rolled up for work and not jamborees or ventures with zero return on investment.
“That move on the aircraft can only shoot up our debt burdens and deliver an unhealthy balance sheet to the incoming government in Rivers. We recommend that the state government immediately disposes the said Legacy Jet A600.
“Then invest its accruals into refurbishing abandoned primary, secondary schools, resuscitate moribund primary healthcare system, pay off outstanding salaries owed teachers of demonstration secondary schools, wrongfully dismissed lecturers of Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, 5 years salaries of RSSDA staff, pensions/ gratuities, students bursaries and many more unresolved obligations of the state government.
“Rivers people are tired of the more than 2,675 days of inchoate rhetorics going on in the State. We salute both promoters of the ‘miracle’ and court jesters working on this monumental achievement, which no state government in Nigeria can ever attain.
“We suspect that this miracle was made possible by combined efforts of Germany based metaphysicians who gained access to the handover notes of the Rivers State Ministry of Transport and discovered the Ministry’s assets/liabilities as at 2015 which included a Legacy jet A600 aircraft.”
The party asked the Wike’s administration from which budget, “Will the state defray the landing cost of the aircraft which approximates to $20,000.00, daily parking fee of up to $2,000 on the tarmac or will the state award a contract to Julius Berger to build a hanger?
“There is up to $4,100 navigational charges per flight whenever, minimum of N1.5m monthly pilot salary, N500,000.00 for at least one cabin crew member, engagement of a ground crew (maintenance engineers, cleaners, security).
“How about maintenance, observation and repairs (MoR) to carryout C-check in Europe, the cheapest being in Turkey because of its proximity to Africa but this will cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars, payment of insurance on the aircraft, alleged 3 Million Euros cost of refurbishment and NCAA air-worthiness check.”
