Delta government, SDP trade words over N14.5b Paris fund

The Delta State chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has alleged that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa misappropriated the N14.5 billion Paris club collected by the state.

The party’s chairman, Mr. Oke Idawene, told journalists yesterday in Asaba, that Okowa has refused to tell the people how the money was spent. According to him, the governor collected the fund in December last year, but allegedly spent it on frivolous projects, while claiming to have utilised it to develop the state.

Idawene said the current teachers’ strike in the state is a confirmation that Okowa had failed on the Anioma agenda and the fulfillment of his campaign promises.

“The SDP had two months ago cautioned the people against Okowa’s utterances on the strike, which are clear indications that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a mockery in the state,” he said.

The SDP chieftain also accused the PDP of failing in human capital development and security matters, a situation that had exposed the residents to attacks by the Fulani herdsmen.

He warned that the state might soon be unable to pay workers’ salaries unless the alleged mismanagement is looked into.Idawene declared that the SDP had started to mobilise the people to vote out the PDP in 2019 governorship election.

Reacting, the state Chairman of the PDP, Kingsley Esiso, described the SDP’s allegation as a misplaced priority.He said the party exists only on the pages of newspapers, stating that Okowa had done considerably well in the past one year and half years.

Esiso stressed that the residents have no regrets in voting for Okowa and warned the SDP against unguided statements.Also, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, dismissed the allegations as the handiwork of the enemies, adding that Paris fund was judiciously spent to develop infrastructure in the state.

“What Okowa has done in the last one and half years are visible and before the end of his four-year tenure, he would transform the state beyond the unsubstantiated allegations of the SDP.”