By Emeka Samuel,Uyo
A socio political group, Akwa Ibom Good Governance has blamed a former governor of the state, Senator Godswill Akpabio for sabotaging the use of science equipments installed in nine premier schools in the area.
They have also blamed him for the failure of Ibom Science Project after a whopping N3bn had been invested in it with the former Governor citing alleged mismanagement of the project fund and the proximity of its location to erosion prone environment as reasons for abandoning it.
In a press statement on Wednesday in Uyo endorsed by its president, Ubon Benjamin and secretary, Effiom Antai, the group alleged that Akpabio failed to develop the park for political reasons.
“After thorough research and investigation we arrived at the following that Akpabio deliberately and for political reasons failed to complete the development of the state Science Park for which the state government has committed much resources to and which had the capacity to have changed the face of ICT and place the state at the forefront of ICT research and development in the country”.
The group further alleged that the former governor now senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West, sabotaged the development of Science Information and technology and mismanaged the science equipment purchased Obong Victor Attah, a former governor of the state.
“The former Governor, now senator mismanaged science equipment earlier acquired and installed by his predecessor, Obong Victor Attah and commissioned by the then President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo for 9 premier schools located in different parts of the state to boasting teaching and learning of science education at the secondary level and act as spring board for an ICT and science revolution in Akwa Ibom state.” The statement also reads in part.
Senator Akpabio was also tacked by the group for his alleged failure to follow laid down plans for the development of the state University of Science and Technology located at Ikot Akpandan, adding that he converted it from it specialized status to a conventional University and distorting the idea behind the setting of the University.
Akpabio’s action, the group claimed had denied students and indigenes of the state the opportunity of exploiting the synergy that could have resulted from the capacities of the two projects.
But media aide to Akpabio, while reacting to the allegations of the science park and others said to things were wrong were wrong with the projects referring reporters to an earlier quotation by Akpabio.
“The first is the location, no matter the building you put there such a building is threatened by erosion and it will cost you more to arrest this factor than the cost of the project itself.
“The project is prone to probing of the EFCC because the total cost of the project was N5.6 billion and the Attah’s administration paid N5.3 billion upfront and the work done is not up to N400 million.
“If a project is N5.6 billion and the government paid N5.3 billion upfront you would expect the contractor to move the project to a reasonable level. With N5.6 billion project and N5.3 billion paid upfront, I don’t think I should touch that project. You will not advice me to touch that project unless the contractor can give account of how he utilized the N5.3 billion he collected from Akwa Ibom state government and why work done on round is not up to N300 million” Akpabio was quoted to have said.
