Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, has congratulated Nigeria’s President-elect, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retired), on emerging as successor of President Goodluck Jonathan and urged him to ensure that the “states of the Niger-Delta get their fair share” of everything under his administration.
The outgoing governor stressed though the outcome of the general election clearly showed that Delta and the other Niger-Delta states are predominantly of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Buhari cannot afford to operate discriminatory policies because he emerged under the canopy of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Uduaghan also reiterated his implicit confidence in the ability of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the state’s governor-elect, to fly the flag of the PDP worthily and deliver to the people of the state the needed infrastructural and human capital,development projects and programmes.
Speaking with journalists on the outcome of the general election, the emergence of his successor in Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and sundry issues in the state and the country at large, Uduaghan thanked God for averting the turmoil people had feared would envelope Nigeria before the general election.
Uduaghan said, “I congratulate Buhari and I do hope he would he would take the whole country as his constituency irrespective of the different political affiliation of the individual states and geo-political zones.
“He must continue to recognize the South-South and ensure that states of the region are not discriminated against but that they get their fair share of all national resources and appointments under his watch at the centre.
“South-South states are PDP states and can’t be ignored. Buhari should design a fresh approach to ensure the South-South states get the right appointments they deserve. He must continue to recognize the South-South states because of their strategic position and contributions to the nation’s economy.”
Uduaghan, who also thanked President Jonathan for setting the tone that doused of the high tension in the country prior to the general election “by congratulating Buhari even before the presidential election result was declared by INEC, thanked the people of Delta State for expressing faith once again in the PDP government in the state.
He said that he believed in the capacity and ability of the PPD to bounce back into national political reckoning despite losing its number-one position in Nigeria as the predominant party.
According to Uduaghan, “We (PDP) are strong enough to get up again. We have 11 governors. We can still rise. The South-South states are strong enough to rebuild PDP although there are challenges. The national leadership will sit down and review what has happened. In the next four years, we shall give the APC a very serious challenge.
“Back home in Delta, Deltans resoundingly said the PDP should continue to govern the state, they elected Senator Okowa who has also pledged to carry everybody along.”
While expressing implicit confidence in the ability of Dr Okowa to deliver effectively on the lofty programmes of the PDP in Delta State, Uduaghan advised the candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Chief Great Ogboru, and his APC counterpart, Chief O’Tega Emerhor to accept defeat and congratulate the victorious PDP candidate, Okowa.
The defeat of the LP and APC candidates at the governorship and house of assembly elections was so severe and indisputable that accepting defeat and offering a hand of fellowship to the eventual winner of the election was the wisest and most honorable thing to do, he said.
In particular, Uduaghan noted that protests and allegations put across to the media by Emerhor of the APC showed glaring inconsistencies, including reeling out figures that were at variance with those contained in the official figures in the results declared by INEC, indicating that “he was not even informed about the election.”
“O’tega is a gentleman”, Uduaghan noted, adding, “My advice to Emerhor is to congratulate Okowa. Besides, he was not on ground. His complaints meant that he is not even aware of the figures. He has no correct figures in some of the local government areas. He is not even informed of the results of the election.”
Nobody would follow Emerhor if he decides to go for a street protest, he further said, noting that the people of the state believed in the PDP’s commitment to people-oriented programmes.
On what he would like to be remembered by, Uduaghan said the perception of his eight-year administration would depend on whoever was remembering him and from the point he was being remembered such as the free maternal healthcare, roads, microcredit, education, communications (Asaba Airport), transport, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment