Okowa To Orubebe: ‘I Am Not Kind Of Man That Want To Be Dragged Into Arguments With You’

….Says ‘it is unfortunate the ex-minister is criticising me because I turned down his Commissioner slot request’

Governor of Delta State, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa on Tuesday reacted to remarks credited to former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe who had challenged the governor to give full account and details of how he spent N1.15 trillion the state received from the federal government as well as from its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the last 50 months.

The People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) stalwart who demanded that Okowa should prove his accountability and judicious application of the said fund with particular reference to each ethnic community in the state said, he has engaged the services of some consultants to value the works Okowa has done in the state within the period under review.

Orubebe was quoted to have said, “I want gov Okowa to tell the people of Delta State how he spent N1.15trillion with particular reference to each ethnic community in Delta State.

“I have already engaged the services of some consultants to value the works he has done in Delta State in the last 50 months. I am sure that Deltans will be pleased to know the outcome of this verification exercise.

“Very soon we shall also come out to tell the people of Delta state about ”Okowa before he became governor, Okowa after 50 months as a person and as a government”, he said.

But in a subtle reaction to the seething attack, Governor Okowa, though didn’t mention Orubebe’s name, urged political leaders to apply decorum in their utterances to avoid heating up the polity.

Okowa who spoke during the swearing-in ceremony of 17 new commissioners in Asaba, stated that political leaders are expected to “show some level of decorum in whatever they say or do; because, I am not the kind of man that want to be dragged into arguments with our leaders because I have a lot of respect for them, but when some leaders go off course sometimes, it is important to put things in the right perspective.

“It is truly unfortunate that one of our leaders has been insulting the office of the governor on the pages of newspapers and on social media; it is very unfortunate that this type of situation took place and I wish that the criticism was based on real facts, but, I do not think that the criticism was on a mistake on my part, because, the fact that a leader makes a request to appoint a commissioner and it is turned down is not enough for such a leader to go to the newspaper or social media to criticize the government of Delta state; more so, when such a leader by all standards and from all available information in the state cannot be said to have contributed enough to say the kind of things that he has said on the newspapers,” the governor said.

Adding, Okowa said, “only yesterday, my attention was drawn to the fact that he has asked the government to account for the monies we have received in the last four years and I think that Deltans appreciate the much we have done within the limits of the resources we have and I am aware that in Burutu local government alone a lot has been done  and will still be done.

Continuing, he said, “Just a few weeks ago the Vice President of this nation was in Burutu to commission the Obotobo 1 and Obotobo 2 to Sekebolo to Yokri road which is a 20.76km road for which our people  were happy;  only last year we commissioned the Burutu township roads and I know that the people in Burutu town and the local government area are very happy with the jobs; and I am aware that the road moving from Tuomo to Torugbene is on-going as I speak”.

The governor also said, “I am aware that we are continuing the bridge in Ayakromo and so many other projects that we are undertaking; so, when such a person from that local government is asking us to give account, I will say that I will want to start to give the account from his local government area and I urge him to tell us what he used his position to do for the people of Burutu.”