Promises I made when I assumed office largely fulfilled, says Okowa

Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, says the promises he made when he assumed office in 2015 have been “largely fulfilled”.

Okowa spoke on Monday during a press conference at the newly-inaugurated press centre, government house, Asaba, the state capital.

He said in spite of the many distractions by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, his administration’s achievements were in the media domain.

Okowa said journalists, people of the state, and civil servants, in particular, contributed to the success.

He said his first two years in office were turbulent noting that it was difficult to even pay workers’ salaries but his administration weathered the storm.

“The peace existing in the state today could be attributed to God and the efforts of my administration to succeed,” Okowa said.

“Whatever we have achieved in the past eight years, we give thanks to God and we thank the people of the state for their cooperation.”

Okowa said his administration has constructed over 2,000 kilometres of roads, 1,000 drainages, and many bridges linking various communities, including Riverine communities in the state.

He said the ravaging flood that flows from the Okpanam axis of the state capital over the years has been stopped with stormwater drainage which has saved lots of buildings in Asaba and its environs.

“This government also undertook a study of the situation in Warri and Effurun areas of the state, with a drainage project targeted to gulp about N20 billion,” he said.

“The Warri drainage project is 70 percent completed, and at its completion, it will be possible to build roads that can stand the test of time.

“The cost of the drainage project can scare anyone but my government is focused and we do not want to build roads that will fail. I want to build a lasting foundation such that after the drainage, we can build roads that can last.”

Okowa said his administration established four state universities to admit students of the state and others who could not be admitted to other universities, even when they met the qualifications.

“We do not charge fees in Delta universities but running costs and our universities have been in sessions without hitches,” he said.

“Recently, the opposition APC rumour about Delta borrowing N850 billion is a lie from the pit of hell.

“I did explain that the federal government owed us about N217 billion as they owe several other states and we said let us take a bridging finance of N150 billion which was later pruned to N100 billion.

“We got approval from the state executive council and the state house of assembly to secure the bridging finance. We ended up taking only N91 billion, which we tied to various projects to ward off the current high inflation rate in the country.

“All the projects listed, including the Ughelli-Asaba road project, the Koka Interchange, pension arrears, and grants to local government councils. Every kobo spent from the bridging finance is out there.

“We believe that we are solvent enough to run the state and when we borrow, we are responsible for ensuring that we have means to pay.”