Allegations untrue – Commissioner
A political group, Delta Decides, has berated the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration for allegedly abandoning a number of multi-million dollar projects across the state.
The group said almost three years after the Okowa administration came into office, many of the projects, which it used to campaign to the people of the state for their votes, had either been abandoned or had yet to see the light of day.
The group’s President General, Mr. Earnest Shedrack, described as pathetic and barbaric “political promises made to hoodwink the electorate by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa during his electioneering campaigns.”
We have also observed the desperation of the governor for a second term
The group, which claimed that its objective was the enthronement of good governance come 2019, however, listed the purportedly abandoned projects to include: $5million Egbokodo/UN vocational training centre in Warri; Asaba Commercial City Master Plan Project; N5bn Asaba mechanic village along Onitsha Expressway; 1,000 Housing units; N2bn re-construction and upgrading of the Ultra-Modern Trade Fair Exhibition Centre, Osubi in Okpe Local Government Area of the state; and the controversial Asaba International Airport, Asaba.
Alleging that Governor Okowa did not mean well for the state, the group said 80 per cent of the political appointees hailed from Ika nation, and the remaining 20 per cent were spread across two other senatorial districts.
“We have observed religiously that Okowa is a tribalist. Almost 80 per cent of his political appointees are from Ika nation. Besides, there has been unnecessary deduction, particularly the contributory Health Insurance Scheme and lots more. He had failed on his electioneering promises to Deltans,” it added.
The group further alleged that many of the roads the state government claimed to have constructed or rehabilitated where short stretches, whereas states like Edo, Rivers, Ogun, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom had long-kilometer roads with well-constructed drainages.
“We have also observed the desperation of the governor for a second term, and he is right now busy showcasing wishy washy projects executed in the last two years. We never expected poor performances from Okowa, considering his political wealth of experience,” the group’s president said.
The group, therefore, called on the governor to sit up or consider his second term ambition dashed, warning that it would do everything possible to vote him out if he failed to provide the dividends of democracy.
But the state government, through the Commissioner for Economic Planning, Dr. Kingsley Emu, described the group’s allegations against the Okowa administration as a ruse.
Emu added that it was being used by some disgruntled politicians in the state to create bad blood among the electorate, who had so much trust and confidence in the Okowa administration.
“Okowa has done over 90 per cent of his electioneering promises; the facts are on ground for everybody to see. He may not have executed all, but in his second term by the special grace of God, all projects will be executed and they will touch the lives of Deltans,” he assured.
