Delta leaders on Monday expressed gratitude to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for taking the state out of the woods and placing it on the world map for good. They also thanked him for running a transparent and accountable government.
“Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has performed excellently to the envy of his foes that are now bent on pulling him down. He has not misappropriated public funds and will never do it” the leaders, under the aegis of the People’s Movement, said on Monday.
In a statement issued in Lagos by the Director of Communications of the Peoples Movement, Mrs. Ibifuro Tatua, the leaders eulogized Uduaghan for being above board in the discharge of his duties.
The leaders, who described allegations of using phantom companies to siphon funds from the state treasury, running the state only with family members and others as false, challenged MPROD to mention the names of the phantom companies.
“These are the handiwork of the governor’s political enemies who are bent on tarnishing the name and good image of the governor and also creating further distractions from his focused and principled leadership style,” they said
The leaders who took time to correct the half-truths and dangerous insinuations contained in the petition of the Movement for the Protection of the Rights of Deltans (MPROD), described members of the group as unscrupulous mischief makers. They advised them to visit the state for stock taking.
“The petition is wide off the mark and misconceived. It is also extremely contradictory in a number of areas, thus exposing the high level of ignorance of the architects about the true state of affairs in Delta State.
The leaders while advising MPROD members and other enemies of the state to be more decent with their choice of words in addressing Governor Uduaghan, said the governor in the last six years focused on administering the State, with the fear of God and for the good of the people.
“When we look at the scorecard of Uduaghan, what readily comes to mind is how he has performed. The administration’s programmes are felt in the three senatorial districts. Delta is one of the few states where salaries are being paid as and when due. The traditional institution has received a boost and respect under the administration. Uduaghan has relentlessly pursued a vigorous policy for provision of social facilities and infrastructure. The administration has done a lot in the areas of roads development. Within six years of the present administration, several rural and urban roads have been developed.
“The state has a more motorable network of roads than it had six years ago. On the education turf, Uduaghan has reminded people of the state that investment in that sector is the only way to control and stem the tide of youth restiveness. The government has given scholarship to thousands to enable them further their education in various schools within and outside the country. The government has arrested the drift in the education sector through provision of necessary learning aids, including books, laboratory equipment, computers and internet services.
“The government has renovated many schools in the rural and urban areas. Uduaghan has made modest development in terms of health sector delivery to the people. All the general hospitals have been rehabilitated. The out of stock syndrome, which had crippled hospitals efficiency in other states, has already been confined to the dustbins. Drugs are constantly purchased and distributed to hospitals and other health institutions in the state.
Insisting that the governor’s dogged commitment to principles in the practice of politics, the rule of law and the best democratic tradition of fairness and justice were some of the attributes that brought him into collision with the enemies of democracy and development in the state, the leaders said “Delta State has never had it so good in terms of provision of amenities and infrastructure since the creation of the state