Skip to main content

Governor Okowa scraps predecessor’s projects, says they are not workable - Governor

Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state has scrapped two projects initiated by the previous government of Dr. Emmanuel Udaughan

He said there is no enough fund to continue financing the projects even as the private partners are not showing real commitment to the projects

The governor also suspended the first class scholarship scheme also initiated by the previous government, basing his decision on scarcity of funds Delta state.

The two projects are the Oleri Park in Warri and the wild life park in Ogwashi-Uku. Okowa. The governor hinted that the projects which have gulped billions of naira from the state coffers cannot continue following the failure of the private partners to show commitment to the two parks.

The governor gave the revelation Tuesday at the quarterly media interaction held at the Delta government house. Also, the governor suspended the Delta state first class scholarship scheme for graduating students of Delta origin to study in any country and institution of their choice.
Governor Okowa said: “I wish it were something that I could continue, you see when we hear about the economic recession, we want to just pretend as if we don’t know how deep the cut is. It is not easy, I know of a particular state in this nation where workers are on 50 per cent salary.

 "It is even happening now that even at the federal level, the federal universities are not receiving full paid salaries. So, when you have this very deep cut in the economy and we want to, on our own, pretend as a state government as if we can still chew everything that is available to us, it is a great mistake.”

He said there are things his government is looking at to be done and those to be stepped down at the moment in order to stabilize governance.
“The question is will the worker be relieved of his duty so that I can continue with some of these scholarships programmes? It’s something that we found was not going to work,”
on his role in the impeachment of the former speaker of the state house of assembly, the governor said: “I believe the house of assembly is vibrant enough and they have knowledgeable men but the real truth it is that I have no hands in the impeachment and that is why I spent a lot of time trying to resolve the issues. “But it appears the large majority of the membership of the house felt that the former speaker needed to give way. And I did not believe that after trying to reconcile everybody. In fact for four days 
I didn’t have to do any other thing, I am just trying to hold meetings with various sections.”

Okowa also said he had not right to mount pressure on members of the house to do anything against their will, adding: “That is why the decision was taken by them. If I were to have a hand in the impeachment of the speaker, they won’t need to sit in the very early hours of the morning. “They would have sat at the appropriate time because 

I would have provided them enough security to do that but I don’t think I will get myself involved in the impeachment of any speaker, I don’t think that is the right thing to do. He continued: “Everybody is equal, whenever you are appointed or elected into any particular office, you are only just the first among equals and anything can take place with the house of assemblies just as it happens at the national assembly.” 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DEFECTIONS: Why Saraki, Dogara Others Must Heed Sen. Ibrahim's Call by Comrade Nwokoma Ndubuisi M.

The gale of defections in the National Assembly last week was followed by an advice from no one else than Sen. Abu Ibrahim that the Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara and others in the fold of the All Progressives Congress APC that are still masquerading in the party should resign their membership of the party. This call which also implies that they resign their positions as leaders of the various arms of the National Assembly is yet to be complied with by those concerned as at the time of writing this piece Whatever their reasons for still staying put in the party may be, the fact of the matter is that their continued stay in the party has become a sore which must be extricated from the body.  As I watched through the proceedings of the defections on national television, I wept for the country for producing such leaders that lack morality despite all the party has given them politically which they ordin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rivers Governmnet, PDP Disagree Over $280 million Looan

The Rivers State Government and the Peoples Democratic Party in the state are currently at loggerheads over the request by the state Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for a $280m loan for water and sanitation projects. While the state PDP said that the latest request for loan by the state government was unnecessary due to the resources accruing to the state through the federal allocation and internally generated revenue, the government said it was not true that the funds were to be used for 2015 elections. The state House of Assembly had on Monday endorsed Amaechi’s request for loan for water supply and sanitation projects. But the state PDP, in a statement, signed by the Special Adviser to its Chairman, Mr. Jerry Needam, said the request for loan was aimed at punishing the governor’s successor in 2015. The party called on members of the House of Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the African Development Bank and the World Bank not to honour the loan re...
Post a Comment
Read more

2019: Northern youths kick as Northwest APC lawmakers endorse Buhari

The leadership of the Arewa Youth Forum on Monday said President Muhammadu Buhari does not deserve any endorsement for the 2019 presidency. Reacting to a purported endorsement by some serving All Progressives Congress’s lawmakers from the Northwest in Kaduna, the AYF’s National President, Alhaji Gambo Gujungu, said Buhari was not fit to return as president in 2019. The AYF argued that with the killing spree all over the country, especially in the North, Buhari should serve his mandatory four years term and quit the stage for another Northerner. Gujungu noted that one sour point about President Buhari’s 2019 ambition was his claim that the killings across the country were being carried out by “desperate politicians”, yet he had not arrested even a single suspect. The AYF president, therefore, said Nigerians should blame the president for the attacks on innocent citizens. The AYF boss who spoke to our correspondent on phone on Monday, said the President’s cl...
Post a Comment
Read more