By Godwin-Maria Utuedoye
Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu has said that the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa led administration will finish with head high having fulfilled all his electioneering campaign promises.
Mr. Aniagwu gave this clarifications on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at conference hall of the information ministry, Asaba, when he briefed the press.
Aniagwu who frowned at reports making the rounds that the liaison office of the Delta State Government in Lagos has been sold, gave further clarifications stating that; “Considering the area where the office is situated, state government needed to take advantage of the prime area it occupies and use it to make money for the state.
“We have to relocate the liaison office temporarily in order to achieve the purpose and to allow reconstruction work of the 21 flats to take place. Ikoyi is a high brow area in lagos and we needed it to generate resources for state. That what was happened and those peddling such lies are haters of the Okowa led government, but we have always surprised them.
“I wonder why the lies and I want to tell Deltans to ignore such lies as Sent. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa didn’t sell liaison office in lagos”.
The Commissioner urged Deltans to see the rumours as mere antics of the opposition and challenged the purveyors of the fake news to provide names of who sold the liaison office and name of who it was sold tob
Also condemning the rumuor that Governor Okowa assented to new pension bill in his favour, Mr. Aniagwu disclosed that Okowa did not assent to any new pension bill but only hanged on existing laws.
In his words; “Every law passed by the House of Assembly and assented to by the governor is never done in a secret, so their lies have no basis. The Assembly sits in the open, deliberates on both first, second and third readings on any of the bills before they are passed in the full glare of the media and members of the public.
“Before the governor assents to any Bill we do invite the media to brief them as to the import of such law and all of you are aware that Okowa did not sign any new law with respect to Governor’s pension”.
What we have is an existing law that has been there before now, pointing out that the only time the House effected minor changes in the law was in 2019 when the State House of Assembly amended the law to include the late Prince Sam Obi who was an acting Governor between November 10, 2010 and January 10, 2011.
But just because the opposition they just want to talk and get at us, they are pushing it in the social media to make it look as if we are signing in new law to get home with new benefits and all that.
Aniagwu also informed the media that the three Schools of Nursing in the State, Warri, Agbor and Eku has been upgraded to Colleges of Nursing and to be an HND awarding Institutions. This he said is to enable Nurses earn an HND which will qualify them as professionals even as Governor Okowa has approved the construction of College of Medicine at the University of Delta Agbor.
The Information Commissioner also appreciated journalists working in the state for their objective reporting of activities of the state government and urged them to continue extending same hand of fellowship to the incoming administration.
“Deltans believed that Sheriff Oborevwori is a man that has what it takes to do more and sustain the legacies of Okowa and that it was time to reward the PDP administration and so they voted massively for Oborevwori.
“For those who lost we have extended the olive branch to them to join us in building a much more stronger Delta but instead of doing that they have started telling stories to diminish the hard earned reputation of this administration and especially that of our governor.”
Assuring of the preparedness of the Okowa administration, Mr. Aniagwu said, the Governor of the state, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa will work till 12 midnight of May 28, 2023 before handing to Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori who is experienced and has also been part of the system. He urged all to give him the necessary support as he has more to offer.