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Official explains delay in Asaba airport's completion
FROM HENDRIX OLIOMOGBE, ASABA
REASONS for the delay in the completion of the Asaba Airport have been given by the Special Project Director, Mr. Austine Ayemidejor.
He told journalists in Asaba that 80 per cent of work has been achieved in virtually all aspects but the expansion of the airport project, which has gulped N10 billion so far was the reason for the delay.
Ayemidejor said that the runway, which was supposed to be 3.2 km originally, was later extended to 3.4 km.
He said there was an additional work at the terminal building by introducing a concourse to receive the three passenger bridges. "Initially, we thought that a 50-metre taxi way will be able to solve taxing for the purpose of aircraft that are landing but now, we have over 1.5 km taxi way. There are four taxi ways as against the one that was initially planned for", he said.
The project director said a massive excavation work that will result in the cutting of a 1.2 km runway with a depth of about 9 metre was seriously on.
He said save for the addition, the original February deadline for the completion was feasible but assured that the project would get off the ground before the end of the year. "We will be through with Asaba Airport project before the year runs out. The expansion was the reason for the delay", he said.
According to Ayemidejor, massive filling with stone base and the priming of the remaining 200 metre have since been completed while everything required for the completion of terminal building is on the ground waiting for installation. These include the escalators, lifts and the three passenger bridges.
As for the vital control towers, the project director explained that the navigational aids are all ready waiting for installation. So also are the instrument landing systems, furnishing, cladding of the terminal building and control tower. Work on landscaping the premises of the airport is on.
On the ground are the fire service station, the apron, the expansive parking space, which can accommodate 1,300 cars, the access road and the taxi way.
"We have achieved 80 per cent in all these areas. We are convinced that within a very short period of time, the airport will be ready for operation", he said.
Source: The Guardian, 30th August 2010.
Delta government moves to check erosion
THE Delta State government has assured of its determination to check the problem of erosion through the construction and rehabilitation of roads in the state.
The state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who disclosed this at the weekend during a thanksgiving service to mark the 19th anniversary of the creation of the state at Christ Missionary Crusaders Church, Ekpan said immediately the rains were over, contractors would swing into action.
Uduaghan said the roads to be constructed had been carefully selected and spread across the state so that there would be even development.
He disclosed that special attention had been paid to the control of erosion in Asaba, Warri, Agbor, Effurun, Ozoro among others and assured that within the next few months Delta residents would see the difference.
Explaining further, the governor said: "We are already working on the roads and we are dealing with erosion. The rains are disturbing and I know that some persons have drawn my attention to some of the roads, but I assure you that all will be over soon."
Uduaghan who promised to continue to provide democratic dividends to the people enjoined stakeholders in the education and health sectors not to sabotage the efforts of the state government through the collection of illegal fees and levies.
He regretted the unwholesome attitude of some school heads and health workers who collect illegal fees from students and pregnant women respectively even after the state government has abolished such fees.
The governor specifically mentioned the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) fees as well as some fees paid in the hospitals and warned that the monitoring team moving across the state would deal ruthlessly with anyone caught sabotaging the good intentions of the state government.
His words: "I want to call on those still collecting fees, levies and hospital bills from students, pregnant women and nursing mothers to stop. We are not going to tolerate them anymore."
Uduaghan called on the residents to cooperate with his administration so that the peace and security won a few years back could be sustained.
Explaining that when the state was created, security and peace challenges featured prominently, he thanked God for the peace the state was enjoying and called on all Delta residents to be more united than ever before so that the state could move to the next level.
In a sermon titled "the blessing of God or the blessings of God" the president of CAN and founder Word of Life Bible Church, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, urged Christians to pray for the blessing of God which he described as intangible and not the blessings of God, which he said were the tangible.
Source: The Guardian, 30th August 2010.
Armed Robbers On Rampage At Delsu
KOLA NIYI-EKE, ASABA
Matchete 61-Year-Old Man
Armed robbers have unleashed a rampage of terror unchallenged at Delta State University, An-wai Campus, Asaba, where they cut severally the body of 61-year-old Samson Nwabuegwu, who works in the Works and Services department of the institution.
It was also disclosed by the victim that, before this recent attack, armed robbers had earlier cut one of the staff on the waist with cutlass, thereby sustaining a severe injury he is still nursing.
Narrating the ordeal to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, the victim, Mr. Nwabuegwu, said the ugly incident happened on the midnight of Sunday, 8 August, 2010 about 2.30 am, while sleeping with his wife and children.
He said he heard a knock on his door, and when he asked from inside who is that?, one of the robbers answered, saying, we are armed robbers, adding that if he fails to open the door, they will kill him once they force the door open.
At that point, he refused to open the door, knowing they are robbers. The robbers continued trying to open the door, and it took them about 30 minutes before they broke the door open.
He said they asked him to lie down which he did, then they search everywhere in the house and took away his handset, his wife and sister handsets plus his N10,000.00 including another N7,000.00 belonging to another occupant of the house.
The victim said after collecting the money and the handsets, he was given a thorough beating of his life, where cutlass was used severally on his back by the hoodlums.
He said the robbers were numbering about 10, but four entered into his house, they range between 20-30 years of age.
Mr. Nwabuegwu said he has reported the matter to the police at A Division, Asaba, the Chief Security Officer of the School, Mr. Akpomuvwe and the school authority. When contacted on the matter, the Provost of DELSU, Anwai campus, Professor Sam Ukala declined comment, saying he has no power to speak on the matter, but directed our correspondent, to the Vice-Chancellor at Abraka for comment.Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer for Delta State Police Command, ASP Charles Muka, confirmed the incident, saying that three persons have been arrested having been seriously suspected over the incident.
Muka equally added that, the incident was a burglary issue, adding that police is investigating the matter and have beef-up security around the campus to avoid future happenings.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, investigation revealed that there have been palpable fear and tension in the last few weeks following some persons suspected to be rapists, who have invaded the campus at night.
According to our informants, the suspected rapists are said to be armed with dangerous weapons during their nefarious activities and have allegedly descended on no fewer than six female students of the school, when they are alleged to be raped inside the thick forest within the school premises.
But the police image maker ASP Charles Muka, however assured that the suspects will be brought to book by the law enforcement agents who are already on their trail.
Source: Leadership, 29th August 2010.
Warri community protests demolition of houses
THE people of Ogbe Ijoh Urban community in Warri, Delta state, yesterday, stormed the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) zone 5 Benin City, calling on the Inspector General of Police to investigate the alleged demolition of their houses and properties on the orders of a prominent resident of the area.
The community leaders shortly after presenting their petition to the AIG, Mr Muhammed Abubakar, complained that they have lived in the area for over 20 years but some time in 2007, the said prominent resident laid claim to the entire community land and started demolishing their buildings.
In their petition dated 10th of August, signed by one of the community leaders, Mr Paul Tusemone, it recalled that the entire occupants of NPA Warri, which was historically sold to the colonial government by the deed of lease for 99 years, on the 30th of July 1906, "now belongs to Ogbe Ijoh people following the expiration of the lease"
He made his desperate effort in 2007 when he evicted some hundreds of market women that normally eke a living at the water front through petty trading.
The petition therefore appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ogbonna Onovo to investigate the matter because "the community members are now being threatened each day if they refuse to relocate even after several efforts have been made to make Chief Smooth understand that it his claim of the land was inhuman".
Source: Vanguard, 20th August 2010.
Delta Endorses Okocha
By Agency Reporter
The Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Udaughan, has endorsed former Super Eagles
captain, Austin Okocha, as the state's candidate for Saturday's election into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation.
Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, Mr. Amaju Pinnick, who stated this added that aside the endorsement, Governor Uduaghan also donated a parcel of land to Okocha to enable him to settle down in the state and contribute his quota to the development of sports in Delta.
Pinnick added that the endorsement of Okocha by the governor does not stop other Deltans interested in the NFF elections from pursuing their ambitions.
Responding, Okocha said he decided to enter the race into the board of the NFF as a result of the maladministration of the present board that had taken the game of football backwards.
Okocha said he was not going into the board for selfish reasons as he could have decided to remain in Europe after his active playing days.
Source: Punch, 20th August 2010.
Delta alleges plan to blackmail Uduaghan
FROM HENDRIX OLIOMOGBE (ASABA) AND CHIDO OKAFOR (WARRI)
DELTA State government has alleged that some "unscrupulous politicians, in furtherance of their inordinate ambitions and the mistaken belief of an emerging political vacuum, have been holding nocturnal meetings with the sole aim of launching series of media attacks" on it "in the coming weeks".
It said two of such politicians belonging to separate ethnic groups and one of whom has been a major beneficiary of the patronage of the dominant political family in Delta State, have particularly been seeking to recruit reporters, editors and columnists with the hope of blackmailing the administration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan".
According to a statement by Uduaghan's Press Secretary, Mr. Felix Ofou, "part of the plan is to 'expose' alleged shady deals of the Uduaghan administration through the use of fictitious, cooked up and non-existent figures, all in a desperate bid to put the government on the defensive and ultimately lose credibility".
Ofou added: "While we concede the right of these disgruntled politicians to hold and express opinions on their perception about the Uduaghan administration, let it be known that neither blackmail, witch-hunt nor outright chicanery would dissuade the government from keeping with the electoral promises to Deltans at home and in the Diaspora.
"Governor Uduaghan remains unflinchingly committed to the three-point agenda of peace and security, human capital development and infrastructural development. Gang-ups, media attacks through sponsored articles and stories, or campaign of calumny cannot distract the government or make it lose focus".
Already, three prominent Deltans have openly joined the 2011 governorship race on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). They are retired military officers, John Kpokpogri and Prof. Saliba Mukoro, who are of the Isoko ethnic group, as well as Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, an Urhobo. They have all scored Uduaghan low on performance, vowing to break what they describe as a family power cabal or dynasty that he inherited from his cousin, exiled former governor, James Ibori.
There are also speculations that Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godsday Orubebe, an Ijaw, is interested in Uduaghan's job although he has not declared his intention. He is also of the PDP.
However, two Isoko PDP stalwarts, Mr. Itiako 'Malik' Ikpokpo and Ferguson Onwo, have said that based on his performance and the party's zoning policy, Uduaghan deserves a second tenure. But Mr. Clement Udonor, also an Isoko and the leader of a group, Movement to Break the Cabal and Family Dynasty in Delta State, disagreed, saying that "Kpokpogri, who excelled as a former Naval administrator, is needed at this critical juncture of the state's impoverishment to rescue and steer its sinking ship".
Source: The Guardian, 17th August 2010.
'Uduaghan Has Taken Delta To The Next Level In The Last Three Years'
BY SAMSON EZEA
DELTA State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Oma Djebah, recently spoke to some journalists in Lagos on the alleged non-performance of the Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan administration and other issues affecting the state. SAMSON EZEA was there and reports.
What is your react to the recent allegation that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan's performance is not commensurate with the allocations accrued to the state since 2007?
It is not true that the Uduaghan administration has not performed. His achievements in the area of massive infrastructural developments that are all encompassing and multi-faceted are glaring and self-evident.
His administration has taken Delta State to the next level in the last three years, compared to other states and what he met on ground when he came into office. Across the three senatorial zones, he has completed many projects, while many are still ongoing.
For example, within the Delta Central, the government has completed the Effurun Roundabout, dualisation of Ughelli-Asaba, PTI-Jakpa roads, completion of Oghara Teaching Hospital, Olorin Bridge, General Hospital at Usi Okolo and others.
In South zone, it has completed the Bomadi-Gbonegolor road, Renal Dialysis Centre and Oxygen generating plant at the Central Hospital Warri, Sapele-Agiborolemeji road, Koko-Uba-Egbelemeji road, and dualisation of Boren Avenue.
In the North zone, you have the Orogodo Erosion Control project in Agbor that is ongoing, dualisation of Asaba-Ughelli road, which is also ongoing. There are also the international airport project in Asaba is almost completed, the dualisation of old Lagos/Asaba road, Boji-Boji, building of markets at Abara and others.
There are so many other projects in the area of health, energy, tourism and others. All the projects were achieved and kick-started within three years of the Uduaghan administration for the benefit of Deltans.
But some stakeholders in Anioma recently alleged that Delta North had been neglected?
Right from inception, the governor made it clear that he would govern based on a template of a three-point agenda of peace and security, human capital and infrastructural development. So, it is not true that the government has neglected the Delta North zone.
As I said, projects have been completed in the three senatorial zones. The governor has the interest of all Deltans at heart, irrespectively of their zones.
Those making such allegations are being mischievous; they know that what they said were blatant lies and misinformation targeted at rubbishing the government's landmark achievements in the state.
Indeed, the broad generality of the people of the zone have been appreciative of government's development strides in the area and have showered praises, recognitions and awards on the governor.
Where were these stakeholders when Anioma people rolled out the drums to celebrate the governor and thank him for his achievements in the area at a grand reception in Asaba early this year?
Is it true that the government has received N650 billion from the federation account in the last three years?
This is very far from the truth. The administration, since inception, has never received such colossal amount from the federation account. As a transparent government that adheres to the tenets of due process, the Delta State Ministry of Finance publishes the audited accounts of the state government annually, and the records are there for all to see.
For the avoidance of doubts, available records, which are also published periodically in national dailies, show that the total net amount received from Federal Account from May 2007 to June this year is not in any way near the region of N650 billion.
Of the amount made available to the state, a substantial chunk goes into recurrent expenditure, including salaries, pensions, gratuity, and subventions to ministries, departments and agencies, as well as assistance to local government councils.
The Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), which is statutorily entitled to 50 per cent of oil derivation revenues accruing to the state, receives its due net allocation. What is left to implement capital projects throughout the state is marginal. But due to the prudence of the governor, a lot has been done, in terms of capital projects.
So, the allegation is just a political tool to impugn the integrity of the administration.
Even as a member, how would you assess the administration?
The governor is an innovative administrator, a technocrat of the highest order, a first class medical doctor and leader loved by his people. All these led to the conceptualisation of the three-point agenda at its inception.
As one would have noticed, peace has returned to Warri. Ethnic crises, differences, hostilities and all those negative attributes of the past have vanished. With peace in Warri, industrialisation and commercial activities are springing up rapidly.
When we had the first Information Summit in the state, where the true face of Delta was unveiled, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth and all the big wigs of the private sector attested to the fact that Delta is making progress and moving very significantly in the positive direction, all to the credit of the governor.
There have been rumours of the governor public spending. How do you react to this or is the government broke or going broke?
I have heard the rumour, but nobody has openly confronted me on it until now. I don't think anybody cabinet member would say that.
For one to posses all the qualities I earlier attributed to the governor, he must be financially disciplined. It is clear that it cannot be business as usual. The government has consistently said this, because we are moving from an economy that is mono-dependent on crude oil to an economy that is multi-dimensional.
So, we must break away from over dependence on oil to chart a new course. To that extent, the governor is building an economy that is diversified. It is not a question of locking the treasury; he is tightening the belt, so that we can engender some fiscal discipline.
The most important thing is that public funds are being expended prudently by the government to better the lots of the people, who are now feeling the impact of good governance in the state.
The government has articulated a well thought out agenda to make Delta State the hub for activities for adjoining states, such that the spin-off will bring tremendous goodwill and economic prosperity to the citizens. There is a well laid-down plan to rejuvenate the ports in Koko, Warri, Burutu and Sapele and consequently instil a fresh verve into the maritime sector of the state.
Already, work on the ports through which goods and services will take a cheaper and easy route into the state and nearby states has commenced. Never in the history of the state has the expansion and utilisation of the ports as a revenue base been given such priority and attention.
Source: The Guardian, 14th August 2010.
Chevron rules out compensation over
Delta Oil Spill
FROM CHIDO OKAFOR, WARR
CHEVRON Nigeria Limited has resolved not to pay any compensation over a recent oil spill in Ekpan, Delta State, claiming that it had been absolved of complicity in the development through a comprehensive joint investigation visit (JIV) to the area by relevant government agencies.
To prove that the spill was allegedly blown out of proportion by operators of the fish farm in the area, Chevron yesterday presented documents from the joint investigation from the National Oil and Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The oil firm also argued that the cluster of fish farms, which is well protected by separation walls, was not impacted by any spill from Chevron's dockyard.
According to the JIV document dated July 23, 2010, NOSDRA stated that the incident occurred when a tugboat belonging to a Chevron contractor sunk near the dockyard, spilling eight litres of diesel into the water, which the oil firm claimed to have cleaned up immediately upon NOSDRA's prompting.
Chevron, which spoke through a media official yesterday, said the spilled eight litres were too insignificant to impact the cluster of fish farms located 10 miles from the Chevron Dockyard.
The oil firm said the NOSDRA team had earlier uncovered a sunken wooden boat used for illegal oil bunkering near the fish farm several weeks before the tugboat incident, stressing that the wooden boat used by oil thieves may have impacted the fish farms.
But the Delta State government had last weekend alleged that the tugboat spill impacted the fish farms, which are partly owned by the government via the micro-credit scheme.
The Deputy Governor, Amos Utuama, led a team of government officials to the location last week to assess the damage.
Earlier, the firm's General Manager, Femi Odumabo, in an official statement by Chevron, stated that it was impossible for the eight litres of diesel "contained within Chevron facility and cleaned up immediately" to impact on fish ponds about 10 miles away
Odumabo said the oil company was willing to work with the government regulatory bodies in determining the source of the spill polluting the fishpond, saying "the spill, which is being claimed to have killed thousands of fishes, could not have been the two gallons spill from Chevron yard".
He added: "We carried out a joint investigative visit with the DPR, NOSDRA and Delta State Ministry of the Environment officials and representatives of the community within the immediate vicinity. The findings of the JIV were documented on forms provided by government agencies and signed off by all parties. The outcome reports that the volume was eight litres with little or no impact.
"Moreover, the spill was confined to our property and cleaned up immediately. In addition, pictures of the incident and helicopter surveillance records were taken within hours of the event, which also support these findings".
Source: The Guardian, 13th August 2010.
Delta accuses Chevron of Insincerity
on Oil Spills
From Hendrix Oliomogbe, Asaba
THE Delta State government on Tuesday accused American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, of insincerity in the recent oil spills in Warri, Delta State.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Bello Orubebe, who accused Chevron, disclosed that over 18,000 litres of oil and not eight litres as claimed by the oil company were spilled from an ill-fated boat in the company's dockyard in Warri.
Orubebe, who spoke with journalists in Asaba, said that 21 days after the spillage, which resulted in the death of almost 52,000 fishes at the neighbouring fish farm at Ekpan, Uvwie Council, the multinational oil company was yet to embark on any clean up exercise.
Flanked by his Information counterpart, Oma Djebah and the Executive Director to the Governor on Micro Finance, Antonia Ashiedu, Orubebe said Chevron's failure to own up was lamentable.
While admitting that the spillage was not on the same scale as that of BP in the Gulf of Mexico, United States, (US), he said the leadership and sense of responsibility demonstrated in America was clearly lacking in the case of Delta State.
According to him, the seriousness which the government attached to the spillage was the reason why Deputy Governor, Amos Utuama, promptly visited the site and set up an inter-ministerial committee comprising members of his ministry, Delta State Environment Protection Agency, Ministry of Justice, the Executive Director to the Governor on Micro Finance and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Oil and Gas.
He accused the oil company of stonewalling, saying: "An example of stonewalling by Chevron began on August 4 when the company refused to allow access to its facilities and source of the spill, stating that it needed two weeks to prepare to enable it allow members of the committee to visit their facilities.
"This decision under an extreme emergency that we have at hand demonstrated to us the insensitivity and cover-up strategy by Chevron of the scale of the spill that has occurred".
He regretted that not even the intervention by federal agencies like the Department of Petroleum Resources and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agencies has prompted the oil company to swing into action.
Source: The Guardian, 12th August 2010.
2011: 'Delta Elders are firing Uduaghan from the moon' , says Chief Ogbo,
By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South
UNTIL he returned to the PDP, which he originally belonged to recently, Chief Tony Ogbo, a one-time acting chairman of Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State gave the party jitters, as the chief spokesperson of Chief Peter Okocha, the AC gubernatorial candidate, whose court case against the incumbent governor, Dr, Emmanuel Uduaghan, generated a lot of tension for the PDP.
That is a matter of the past now. But what really happened in Okocha's camp during this trying period and finally, when the Court of Appeal dismissed the case? What kind of overtures did Uduaghan make to Okocha? Did he bribe him as was speculated? Why is Chief Ogbo back to PDP? How did the Okocha camp see the Uduaghan government when the battle was on and how does Ogbo see the opposition mounted against Uduaghan by the Delta Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders Forum, led by former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark? The political tactician speaks to Saturday Vanguard . Excerpts:
We didn't leave PDP. We were shut out
I worked for the re-election of the former governor, Chief James Ibori in 2003 and thereafter, the issue of who becomes the governor of Delta State in 2007 came into play and we were of the opinion that power would shift from Delta Central senatorial district to any other senatorial district, and the present state chairman of the PDP, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, then a commissioner under Ibori, carried out that campaign of Equity 2007.
He was at the centre of the campaign that power must shift. And made people like us move out of the PDP in 2007 was when after the Ogwashi-Uku primaries because we were preparing for the primaries, you would recall my principal then, Chief Peter Eloka Okocha, was heading for the primaries. He attended the screening exercise, headed by two-time governor of the defunct Bendel state, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia in Port-Harcourt and thereafter, he was not given clearance to contest the primaries and so, we felt that he ought to have been given a chance and he failed.
That is a different thing. He was shut out of the primaries and we felt that was not good for democracy. We did not leave the party per se. This is the impression a lot of people have that Okocha, Ogbo and others left the party. No, the party shut us out and said we should go and when the door is closed, you look for another place to inhabit. That was what happened in December 2006.
Court of Appeal ended Okocha era
We joined AC thereafter and what we tried to do was to ensure that Okocha's vision for greater Delta state is known to people because as at then, people did not know his plan. He had a very good manifesto where he said he was coming to build an international airport in Asaba through BOT (build, operate and transfer) and he has a vision of taking Delta state to a greater height. I felt that such a man who had such vision should be given the opportunity to actualize his vision.
Unfortunately, he was excluded and we said we should use all legal avenues, which was the only thing left to make sure that the election was upturned so that he could have the opportunity to test his popularity before Deltans because it's not only PDP, we are talking about the entire electorate in Delta state that will decide who will be the governor of the state but that dream was aborted by the declaration of the Court of Appeal that he was not even duly nominated ab intio, let alone contesting an election.
So I saw that verdict by the Court of Appeal as the end of an era, especially for what we were trying to pursue, that is to ensure that he emerged as a governors and the beginning of a new dawn for people like us. Like I said, I started from PDP. I was one of the conveners in my local government and convened the party in my ward and so I felt I had to go back to the party which I originally belong.
You said Okocha has the vision of building an international airport in Asaba and taking Delta to greater height. But it's same vision both have. Is one stealing the ideas of the other?
It's the elite that use the airport; the common man can stay 20 to 30 years without travelling by air. Apart from the economic activities, the airport has financial implication. For instance, you know that 80 per cent of the importers in Lagos are from the Eastern part of the country, Aba and Onitsha and it's going to be a cargo international airport.
So it will create a lot of employment for our people. It's going to increase commercial activities and maybe because of our constructive criticism that the airport will be in this place, the man has taken a bold step by making sure the project is completed and is also dualising the road from Koko to serve the Koko port to the Benin-Asaba expressway and the Ughelli-Asaba expressway.
If these roads are completed, the businessmen who transport by sea would not mind passing through Warri and Koko ports while those that fly their goods would see Delta as the best alternative.
Source: Vanguard, 30th July 2010.
Clark Tasks N'Delta Militants on Peace, Governance
FROM KELVIN EBIRI, PORT HARCOURT
A PROMINENT Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has appealed to youths in the Niger Delta to ensure that the country remains governable for President Goodluck Jonathan amid threats by militants to unleash mayhem in the region should he be schemed out of the 2011 presidential race.
Clark, who made the appeal in Port Harcourt at the weekend, said the controversial zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was primarily intended to conciliate the Yoruba ethnic nationality for the annulled election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola.
He said: "In 1999, the so-called zoning came as a way to please the Yoruba because of the injustice done to them when the best election was annulled. The zoning was a Yoruba affair".
The former minister, who explained that the PDP zoning arrangement ended with the 1999 election, insisted that what was uppermost at this time was how to make the federation governable.
Amid threats by some militants to disrupt oil production, Clark appealed to the new leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and youths in the region to ensure that the country was governable for President Jonathan.
Similarly, the Arewa Youth Forum said if President Jonathan must be president of the country by May 29, 2011, he should be a product of acceptance and not agitation.
The group's spokesman, Mohammed Ngiri, said that his organisation would support a situation where Jonathan would emerge as a President without expending so much funds to get his party's support and that of the generality of Nigerians.
He went on to say that Jonathan's presidency should rather be a bridge connecting the Niger Delta region with other sections of the country.
The Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, had told The Guardian that if Jonathan was schemed out of the presidential race, that would be enough motivation to provoke a small group of very angry young men to attack and sabotage a strategic pipeline, an oil installation or a key government building in Abuja.
Whyte said: "We have declared, therefore, that if President Jonathan is stopped from running for Presidency in 2011 in a manner that undermines the people of the Niger Delta, then all efforts that have been made so far in their amnesty process would be useless as more than 90 per cent of all key combatants will return to the creeks directly or indirectly".
Whyte explained that while the JRC did not want to get entangled in the politics of PDP driven by bigotry and parochial mentality, as well as the matter of zoning, what was important to it was that President Jonathan should do the right thing for the Niger Delta immediately and not foot-drag.
"If Jonathan wanted to run in 2011, then he will be careful in giving to the Niger Delta because he does not want to step on the toes of so-called powerful elitist of northern cabals. We feel that way and it is true", said Whyte.
"Political jobbers and professional conmen have flooded Abuja again and will in no small way distract the President from doing the right thing for the people of the Niger Delta. We also feel that in the event that the President seeks to run, he will be careful not to step on the toes of a certain northern elitist cabal and so, will avoid doing what he should do for the Niger Delta", he added.
Source: The Guardian, 26th July 2010.
Uduaghan, Akhigbe Differ on Electoral Fraud in Delta, Edo
FROM HENDRIX OLIOMOGBE, ASABA
FORMER Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe and Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan during the weekend at Kwale, Ndokwa West Council of Delta State traded words over massive electoral fraud which is the bane of the nation's nascent democracy.
While Akhigbe, who spoke at a civic reception organised for Uduaghan by the Ndokwa people specifically called on the people of Edo and Delta states to turn a new leaf next year as the two states have become notorious for election rigging in the country, Uduaghan disagreed with him, insisting that Akhigbe's submission was a fallacy as it is on record that no election tribunal has ever upturned any governorship election result in Delta State.
Uduaghan stressed that the electoral cases upturned in the state were on grounds of pre-election irregularities.
But Akhigbe lamented that it was scandalous to know that Edo and Delta states have lately become the producers of the greatest election riggers in the country.
He added: "It is a thing to be ashamed of. So, I appeal to Uduaghan if he truly wants to represent the people from this area not engage in election rigging. He has to work very hard, and those who are his supporters must also avoid rigging of elections. Some of us who have had the privilege of serving in higher positions in this country will always feel terribly embarrassed."
The former Chief of General Staff said that as although he would not vie for ant elective office next year, he would like to see a situation where Delta and Edo states as well as the South-South would take the lead in holding free and fair elections in 2011.
Akhigbe, who chaired the event, counseled against voting on ethnic lines, stressing that the electorate should ensure they voted in those who would represent them well.
His words: "What we need today is not 'this is a member of my ethnic community' but 'this person is a Nigerian who can deliver the goods.' I will, as one of you, as a member of the old Bendel State, it might be difficult for us to separate Edo from Delta State, to elect leaders who are representatives of the people and who work for the people."
Source: The Guardian, 7th July 2010.
DELTA: Out In The Cold, Opposition Promises To Fight Back
From Hendrix Oliomogbe, Asaba
THIS is probably not the best of days for the opposition in Delta State, going by the depletion in the rank and file of its membership. Almost all the political heavyweights are under the refuge of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Only recently, one of the last main men standing, Mr. Peter Okocha, the governorship candidate of the Action Congress (AC) dumped the party, but state chairman of the Democratic People's Party (DPP), Mr. Tony Ezeagwu is not perturbed. Even though he walks through the valley of the shadow of the PDP, he said, he should fear no evil because he and his fellow journeymen will eventually triumph.
The DPP, he insisted has always been the real opposition. The others who pitched tent with the opposition and later went back to the ruling party, Ezeagwu said, were never real but only fair weather political chameleons that showed their true colour at the slightest shove.
In the 29-member House of Assembly, 26 were originally PDP members, but Mrs. Amaechi Mrakpor who was elected on the ticket of Accord Party has since sought refuge under the big umbrella of the PDP, which was her original party, while the Minority Leader, Mrs. Pat Ajudua seem to be more PDP than Speaker Martin Okonta.
The role of the opposition in a democracy is to checkmate excesses of the ruling party and offer an alternative, but Mrs. Ajudua is so close to the ruling party that she virtually toes the PDP line in every parliamentary debate. There is but a very thin line dividing the opposition and the PDP in the House of Assembly.
Okocha and so many other carpet- baggers were originally in the PDP and only crossed over to the opposition AC when they fell out with the "owners of the PDP". Now that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is back to the PDP, it came as very little shock to the DPP chairman when Okocha dumped the AC.
He said that they only came to seek fortune in the land of the opposition and that he never took them serious right from the very beginning. "Okocha and all the rest of them were never serious opposition politicians. At heart, they were PDP, but merely pretended to be opposition. We had always suspected them all along," he said.
As for Accord Party, which returned Senator Patrick Osakwe to an unprecedented third term, he said it is an open secret that the party is an extension of the PDP. Osakwe had since returned home to the ruling party where he is said to be eying a fourth term.
The Accord Party in Delta State was a safe house for aggrieved PDP supporters of former Governor James Ibori, who could not have their way at the national level of the party, as the garrison ex-Chairman of the PDP, Ahmadu Ali smoked out the "dissidents" who dared raise a voice against his jewel, Mrs. Maryam Enyi Kpakando Ahaba Ali.
Ezeagwu recalled that during the bitter fight between Enyi Kpakando Ahaba and Ibori, supporters of the ex-governor who were bombarded with federal fire needed protection. So when Osakwe lost the party's ticket to Mrs. Ali, he had to temporarily take refuge in Accord Party and come back home when the coast was clear. "You can see that these people were never in the opposition. They only flew the opposition flag when it was convenient for them," he said.
And for that reason, he explained that the real opposition leaders never trusted them. Their loyalty to the opposition cause was always in doubt. With the recent turn of events, there is no doubt that Ezeagwu's laugh has come last.
He said he chose to position himself firmly in the opposition because of his principles and strong conviction that the PDP has nothing to offer the people of Delta State and Nigeria. The almost 11 years of PDP government in the state has been a waste. There is practically nothing on the ground to show for the several billions of Naira, which the state got since 1999.
As for the fugitive former governor who was recently declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Delta DPP chairman said when the genuine opposition leaders raised an alarm about the squander mania in the state some years back, they were labeled as cynics who never saw anything good in Ibori.
He is a very happy man now that the Commission has finally seen what he and his fellow travelers saw long ago and has pledged to apprehend and prosecute the beleaguered former governor.
He said the party's long march to true democracy was the reason why its governorship candidate in the April 2007 election, Great Ogboru has been in court since. In what seems like a roller coaster ride, the case has been tossed back once again to the Appeal Court in neighbouring Benin, Edo State from the Election Petition Tribunal where a retrial was ordered.
As the leading light of the opposition in the state, Ezeagwu vowed that the party would soldier on, no matter how daunting the task may be. The party will never give in and join the bandwagon no matter how long and lonely the road to the liberation of the state may be.
In a free and fair election where there is one man, one vote, he said, there no is doubt that his party will vanquish the PDP as it has not shown any tangible achievement for its over one decade in office. "There is just no way the PDP can win a free and fair election in the state. Even then it must be noted that it has never won genuinely," he said.
But Mr. Peter Oracle Nwaoboshi, the PDP Chairman said there is no opposition in the state, which he emphasized, is a one party state. There is no terror in the ranting of the opposition for the PDP has become so strong in its five star performance.
Nwaoboshi predicted an earthquake victory for the party based on the solid foundation laid by Ibori and consolidated upon by Uduaghan. The party, he said, is not afraid of a free and fair election where vote counts. He said that almost everybody that matters politically in the state is in the PDP, wondering how the party could lose the state. In a test of popularity, he said, there is no iota of doubt that the party will win. "From the Asaba Airport to the stadium and street lights in the capital and Warri, there is no doubt that Uduaghan is an achiever who deserves a second term," he said.
The PDP, he reiterated is a moving train which cannot be stopped, advising that the earlier the opposition members shine their eyes and get on board, the better. Waiting in vain to board another train under the elements and without an umbrella for cover is a recipe for disaster. This is no time for any serious politician to position himself in opposition because life out there is cold and cruel.
Sounding upbeat, opposition leaders promise to contest the governorship polls next year and are confident that if there is a level playing pitch for all the parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the opposition will prove itself.
The DPP Chairman dared to hope that, this time around, things will be different especially as the controversial chairman of the electoral body, Prof. Maurice Iwu has been removed from office.
He warned that anybody who thinks that the DPP will only end up as just another party in the 2011 polls is only deluding himself.
Source: The Guardian, 2nd May 2010.
Uduaghan, Fashola Condemn Murder of Journalist
From John Ogiji, Minna
CONDEMNATIONS have continue to trail the killing last Saturday of The Nation's Judicial Correspondent, Mr. Edo Ugbuagwu.
Yesterday, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, expressed shock at the brutal killing of Ugbuagwu, describing it as "mindless."
"What has this life turned to? Why couldn't society do anything to stop the killing? How could the killers have escaped?" he queried.
Uduaghan said the death of the journalist calls for greater vigilance from security agencies, government and the entire society.
"All hands must be on deck. Security agents, governments at all levels and everyone must be extra vigilant. We must learn to be our brother's keepers. That's the only way we can ensure such a sad development does not occur again," he added.
But the governor stated that justice can only be served and the family of deceased partially assuaged, if Ugbuagwu's killers are caught and brought to book.
"I agree that the killers must be fished out to face the music. That way, justice would have been served and the family of the slain journalist would feel that he did not die in vain," he added.
Also, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), also on Tuesday expressed shock over the killing.
Fashola, in a condolence letter to the Managing Director and Editor-in- Chief of the Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation Newspaper, Mr. Victor Ifijeh, said he personally shares in the grief of the members of The Nation's family.
The governor stated that he is particularly horrified by the circumstances of the dastardly act which though is occurring in spite of the avowed commitment to outrun any competition which the criminally-minded who are by far in the minority offers, the passage would only strengthen the resolve of the security agencies to bring his killers to justice and protect the life and property of every law-abiding citizen in the state.
Said he: "Losing a dedicated reporter and family man like Mr. Ugbuagwu, whose beat ironically centres around dissemination of information on justice delivery, could be devastating. Be assured that I am one with you in prayers at this moment of pains."
"On behalf of the Government and people of Lagos State, please accept my heartfelt condolences. God in his infinite mercy will endow you, the management and family of the departed, with the strength to bear this irreparable loss," the letter stated.
Meanwhile, the Niger State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Baba Barau, has called on Nigeria journalists not to relent in the pursuant of the truth as demanded by the profession.
Speaking in Minna yesterday while commissioning the secretariat complex of the Correspondents Chapel of the NUJ, Niger State Council, the commissioner regretted the senseless killing of journalists across the country by those he described as paid assassins.
He said journalists in the country are the watchdogs of the society, adding that "no amount of intimidation or threat to their life should deter them from discharging their professional responsibility."
He added that "the society is watching and relying on you for day-to-day happenings in the society. You should always ensure neutrality in your reporting even at gun-point."
The commissioner reminded them that with the 2011 general election around the corner, they should expect more attacks because, according to him, Nigeria politicians have abandoned decency in pursuance of public office for what he called do-or-die politics.
He, therefore, urged the media to be partner in progress with the government in order to remove rancour and misunderstanding which often arise in their coverage of government activities.
Source: The Guardian, 29th April 2010.
Electricity: Uduaghan Urges FG to Decentralise Distribution
From Eddy Odivwri in Geneva
Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has called on the Federal Government to decentralise power distribution so as to accelerate the development of the country.
He made the call while making a presentation in Geneva, Switzerland, at a two-day state organised summit, Delta Diaspora Direct (D3), for Nigerians and non-Nigerians on how Nigerians, especially Deltans in the Diaspora can make meaningful contribution to the development of the state.
Uduaghan noted that the failure to decentralise the energy sector has hampered the development of many states in Nigeria.
He said it is bad enough that the Federal Government has not been able to fix the energy challenges facing the country, but it is even worse that when alternative options are sought, the centralisation of the sector constitutes a lot of constraints in making any headway.
Uduaghan informed the audience at the summit that although Delta State has contributed about N3.9 billion to the Independent Power Projects (IPP) initiative of the Federal Government, the fruit of the investment is yet to be reaped.
He regretted that even though Delta State is already working on a private energy plan that can generate between 100 to 250 mega watts, "we will still not have access to it when it is ready because the sector is not yet deregulated", adding further that we may generate any amount of megawatt, but it has to be sent to the national grid, and it is only from there that whatever you generate can be transmitted and distributed".
He argued that the relative efficiency Nigeria has recorded in the telecommunication sector is because the sector has been completely deregulated.
The governor expressed concern that the failure of the Federal Government to fix the energy problem has slowed down the development pace of the country in general and Delta State in particular.
According to him, one-third o f the people of Delta State are not on the national grid, stressing that for the fact that the Federal Government is in charge of generating, transmitting and distributing power, "we can use our own power plant initiative to deal with that group of Deltans". He announced that despite the regulation by the Federal Government, the state is building a modular power plant.
In his presentation, Professor Philip Emegwali, the U.S-based Nigerian computer guru, lamented that the situation in Nigeria had caused the country to lose so many of its human capital.
He said: "Nigeria can become an economic power if it improves the situation in the country so it can record 'a brain gain from the brain drain'."
Emegwali challenged Nigerians to develop visions that can launch the nation into the next level, "because it is when you show the light that the people can find their way."
"Africa and indeed Nigeria can alleviate poverty by expanding the frontiers of science, climbing the tree of knowledge", he said, stressing that, "we must challenge the status quo".
Source: This Day, 27th April 2010.
Ritualists kill 2 inUghelli
PALPABLE tension yesterday enveloped Ughelli, Delta State, as two persons were allegedly killed by suspected ritualists.
The victims of the two separate incidents of the onslaughts which occurred at the Ughelli main market and Amekpa street in the Ughelli metropolis, had their hearts and other parts of their bodies removed by the suspected ritualists.
Saturday Vanguard learnt that one of the victims, a security man at Ughelli market, was allegedly strangled to death while attempting to resist his assailants who bungled one of the market stalls.
The hoodlums were to have carted away recharge cards and an undisclosed sum of money after they allegedly unleashed the dastardly act on the security man of about 65 years of age.
The other victim was allegedly attacked by the suspected ritualists in his house last Thursday night.
The hoodlums allegedly found their way into the apartment of the deceased after cutting down the burglary proof and killed him, removing his heart.
When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer, Ughelli 'A' Police Division, Mr Chris Sorgbara confirmed the killing of the security man.
He said the police was investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing, adding that the police was determined to unmask the perpetrators of the inhuman act.
Source: Vanguard, 24th April 2010.
Delta Dragged to Court Over Land Dispute
Written by Ben Dunno, Warri
Delta State governmenthas again been dragged to court over illegal demolition of structures and confiscation of a parcel of land belonging to the Ogbe-Owelle community in Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state.
The plaintiffs, through their counsels are demanding a stay of action on further demolition as well as N200 million as compensation.
The court action instituted against the Delta State government by Messrs Lewis Ifeadi, Mordi Chukwu, Stephen Okoye and Andrew Chuwuzo on behalf of the community is premised on alleged illegal demolition by the Delta State Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban development.
In a suit filed in the Asaba High Court, Counsel to the Ogbe-Owelle community institution by Onyechi Ikepazu (SAN) and Dennis Nwanokwai claimed the various plots land belonging to their clients from the part of a larger expanseof land precisely 49.32 hectares, de-acquired by the Delta State government in 2005 and reverted to its orginal owners. The Ogbe Community vide a Delta State of Nigeria Gazatte No. 8 Vol 16 dated February 23, 2006 page 26.
The counsels averted that the land in question was legally de-acquired from Delta State government in 2005 and receipted for by the state lands, survey and urban development.
Affected members of the Ogbe-Owelle quarters, Okpanam in Osimili North Local Govenrment Area of Delta State had claimed that they started having trouble in the said parcel of land when the state government choose a site across the land for the construction of the Delta State Airport.
They claimed top Govenrment Officials and political Office holders then saw prime advantage of their land started pulling strings to covert the said land for their own use by forcefully taking it over from the legal owners...
Source: Leadership, 18th April 2010.
Delta Shares in Oceanic Bank not Used in Paying Ascot Loan
The management of Ascot Offshore Nigeria Limited has denied the allegation that the shares of Delta State government in Oceanic Bank were sold to pay the loan the company obtained from Intercontinental Bank to buy an oil servicing company, Willbros Group Inc, in 2006.
In a statement issued by Ascot Management on Friday, the company debunked the claims, saying the allegation was baseless.
While acknowledging that Delta State Government "used a portion of its shares in Oceanic Bank Int. Plc for the transaction," the company, however, insisted. "The Portion of Oceanic Bank shares used to part-secure the loan was never sold to pay off the loan obtained by Ascot."
Delta State government, Intercontinental Bank Plc and Ascot have confirmed that the shares are still in place. This fact can easily be verified through the CSCS (Central Securities Clearing System)".
The company emphasized that it emerged winners in a "very keenly contested bid. The purchase price was approximately $150m. As in any leveraged buy-out, Ascot had to source for funds to buy the company.
It approached Intercontinental Bank for a facility."The Ascot management further explained that the involvement of Delta State government in the purchase of Wilbros, an American based company, when it divested its holdings in Nigeria four years ago due to the crisis in the Niger Delta, was an open deal, which has benefitted the state.
Source: Vanguard, 18th April 2010.
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