Why I rejected bailout –Udom

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AKWA Ibom State Gover­nor, Udom Emmanuel, has explained why he did not accept bailout fund offered states by the Federal Gov­ernment. President Muham­madu Buhari had approved bailout for states who are ow­ing salaries.

Speaking at the weekend, in a town hall meeting with journalists and other stake­holders in Uyo, the gover­nor said he rejected bailout because he did not want to mortgage the future of Akwa Ibom people.

Governor Emmanuel said he would not borrow money he does not need and by so doing, leave a huge debt for future governors to pay.

He also denied spending N3.7 billion to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the state last September.

Addressing newsmen for the first since he was sworn in as governor on May 29, Udom said he never had such an amount to spend on the celebration; and that the 28th anniversary was the cheapest of similar events ever cel­ebrated in the state.

“The money was not there. For the first time, we did an­niversary without a state ban­quet in the evening because we were moving with the time. If I had N3.7 billion, I would use it to flood the state with industries. I didn’t have even N.7 billion; not even N.5 billion was spent,” Udom said. He lamented the negative media focus on his administration and appealed to journalists not to at all times be adversarial; rather they should applaud govern­ment when they do good and constructively criticise when they veer off the course. I am not saying that you should applaud everything we are doing; we welcome construc­tive criticism, criticism that is done without malice. Let us start a new narrative of con­structive engagement devoid of the negative impulse to pull each other down, for when we pull our people down, we in­variably pull ourselves down.

Source: The Sun