18 June 2008
Lagos — Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State says leaders of the Niger Delta region will attend the planned summit to iron out the crisis rocking the area.
Describing the summit as important, Amaechi said there was need for the people to dialogue with the Federal Government over their plight. "Niger Delta summit is important; We need to talk, we need to dialogue, we need to engage the Federal Government.
"It is important for the public and the Federal Government to know what the problems are and how to go about resolving them," he told State House Correspondents after an audience with President Umaru Yar'Adua. On the Truth and Reconciliation Commission sitting in the state, the governor reiterated that its outcome would not be used to prosecute anyone. Amaechi said the essence of the exercise was to heal all wounds and unite all factions to bring peace to the state and promote development.
"It is geared toward finding a lasting solution to the crisis that rocked Rivers State over the past years. "The commission came into being because a lot of stakeholders demanded for it," he said. The governor said his administration had been channelling all the funds it received from the federation account into projects that would impact positively on the lives of the people.
"Our intention is to apply judiciously all the funds that we have received from the government," Amaechi said. Amaechi said the major project he had engaged in was a ring road that would cost the state between $1.5 billion (N175.5 billion) and $1.7 billion (N198.9 billion).
He said the state needed partnership with the private sector to be able to execute the projects.
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