Superhighway: Environmentalist warns Ayade

Mr Odey Oyama, Founder of Rainforest Resource and Development Centre (RRDC), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has advised governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade, to beware of accepting funds from questionable foreign funds providers for his signature projects, the superhighway and deep seaport. Interacting with journalists in Calabar, Oyama called on Ayade to disclose sources […]

Mr Odey Oyama, Founder of Rainforest Resource and Development Centre (RRDC), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has advised governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade, to beware of accepting funds from questionable foreign funds providers for his signature projects, the superhighway and deep seaport.
Interacting with journalists in Calabar, Oyama called on Ayade to disclose sources of funding for both projects, as keeping these away from the public and other government institutions was against public laws.
He maintained that except the sources of funding of projects are made public and placed under public scrutiny, the risk of opening the door for money laundering could arise.
He also expressed fear that foreign funds providers that the governor was looking to approach could have links with international terrorist organisations such ISIS.
“It is easy for people to use opportunities of very popular projects such as this to recycle stolen public funds and thereafter make the proceeds to appear as legitimate income. This must be avoided and the doctrines of transparency and anti-corruption must necessarily be applied.
“The concealment of the true nature or sources of funding for the super highway project would tantamount to a violation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act 2004, Freedom of Information Act, 2011, and other Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
“A super highway project is a public interest project. It should be expected that the land survey and engineering drawings as well as all the technical reports that form the foundation of this project ought to have been made public,” Oyama insisted.
He said that the president may not have been briefed but invited for the groundbreaking ceremony, arguing that the governor did not follow the process of awarding public contracts before the superhighway contract was awarded.