By Ovie Okpare
The Delta State Government has reacted to the outburst of former minister of information, Chief Edwin Clark, saying that the allegations by the elder statesman concerning the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa were not true.
State Commissioner for information, Charles Aniagwu, in a press statement on Thursday, said the choice of Governor Okowa as the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP was “a well merited one”.
Anaigwu in the statement titled “Okowa’s excellent performance in Delta justified his nomination as Vice-Presidential Candidate”, the statement government denied the corruption allegations against the state governor by Chief Clark.
Clark, a former senator and convener of the influential Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), had on Thursday accused Okowa of being a dictator, corrupt and betraying the people of the South for accepting to be Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s running mate.
The Ijaw leader, in the open letter to Okowa, also demanded Atiku’s running mate to resign vice presidential candidate and tender apology to the people of the Southern Nigeria particularly governors of the region.
But reacting to the open letter, the commissioner for information, Aniagwu also refuted allegation that Okowa was using the state resources to fund his VP ambition.
“First we accord him his due respect as an elder statesman and a respected father in our state, but we state categorically that his letter is not a true reflection of the state of affairs in Delta State as the massive achievements in infrastructural and human capital development recorded in the state in the last seven years are visible to all and sundry.
“On the allegation of unaccountability and dictatorship, it is on record that Governor Okowa has been very accountable to the people as he has always briefed Deltans on the state of affairs in the state. He holds quarterly media interaction with journalists in the state where issues across the state are discussed and questions asked and relevant answers provided.
“The Governor has had cause to relate with the State House of Assembly on all matters concerning the state finances at all times. How can a Governor that ensured full autonomy for the State’s legislature and the judiciary be said to be dictatorial?.
“On the allegation of misuse of N250billion 13% derivation fund, nothing can be far from the truth because the said fund is being paid in quarterly instalments and as at last record, we have only received four instalments totalling N19.6billion.
“Because of the time value of money and inflationary tendencies we decided to discount N100billion. On application to the state House of Assembly, we listed some landmark projects to be completed from the fund and some of them including the Ogheye Floating Market, Koka Flyover and Interchange, Maryam Babangida Leisure Park, Film Village and Zoo, Mother and Child Specialist Hospital and Advanced Diagnostics Medical Centre have been completed, inaugurated and currently operational.
“We are also aware that our leader, Chief Clark has made his own political choice by endorsing a presidential candidate of another political party which we agree and respect as his own fundamental right, but we hold the view that it is not democratically nor constitutionally out of place for other persons to also have right to associate with others which is equally legitimate.
“We are all aware that the country is so divided and the rhetoric that tends to divide the country further along the line of North and South dichotomy cannot do the country any good hence we urge that persons of all class need not engage in divisive actions or utterances.
“As well meaning Nigerians we expect that senior citizens should promote actions that tends to unite the country and not that which would further divide us.
“The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar won the party’s primary on the account of a free and transparent votes of delegates of the party across the country.
“The constitution of our country is very clear that once a Presidential Candidate emerges, he is duty bound to chose a running mate and by tradition from the other side of the country.
“It could’nt have been the right thing to say that we should have rejected the nomination because if we had, other persons would have also accepted it.
“We will continue to respect Chief Clark despite the recent attacks on Governor Okowa and we also put it on record that the highly respected elder statesman had supported us in the past up to 2019 and had cause to commend the Governor for his sterling accomplishments in the state.
“So we will not begrudge him because he has chosen to support someone else this time around”, Aniagwu’s statement read.
