Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt 
•Wike to get N78bn
The minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola has said that the Federal Government has budgeted the sum of N725 billion to pay states as refund for the projects they executed, noting that bulk of the funds would come from foreign loans.
Fashola, who disclosed this yesterday in Port Harcourt, at the commissioning of the Rebisi Flyover, one of the five on-going flyover projects in the state, noted that the last tranche of N148- billion Rivers State got the lion’s share of more than N78- billion.
The Minister, who commended Wike for the “massive urban regeneration and urban renewal of Port Harcourt, added that the approval for the refund was made in two tranches of N577- billion and N- 148-billion. Fashola, who added that the refund was approved across all states and across party lines, however urged the people not to think that the money was already paid as the NASS must also approve it before final payment.
The Minister of Works and Housing also informed against widely held view in the former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi was the champion, among the ministers to secure the refund for the states. He said; “It (the refund) was the initiative of the President Muhammadu Buhari that it was only fair and just to refund to states monies they have spent on Federal roads and it was done across party lines without discrimination.
“Let me also say now that Governor Wike has come out into the open about this, you may have had some stories that Rotimi Amaechi, my colleague in the Federal Executive Council was somehow not happy.
But nothing can be farther than the truth; the champion for the refund among the ministers is the minister of transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.” “The Federal Government is not in competition with any state, our responsibility and our mandate for Mr President is to support the developmental initiatives and aspirations of every state.”
Earlier, Governor Nyesom Wike had called on Fashola to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to make refunds to the state in order to execute more projects.
