Felix Ofou
By Victory Oghene
Executive Assistant to the Delta State Governor on New Media, Mr Felix Ofou has said that the Governor, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori was running a transparent administration, saying he had no skeleton in his cupboard.
Briefing newsmen in his office on Tuesday in Asaba, the Executive Assistant on New Media, disclosed that the State government under the watch of Governor Oborevwori had spent the sum of #130 Billion on the payments of debts as at the end of March this year.
He revealed that the payments were out of the N465 billon debt the Governor inherited from previous administrations in the State.
The Executive Assistant on New Media who was flanked by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s Executive Assistant on Media, Mr. Norbert Chiazor and Senior Special Assistant, New Media, Mr. Dennis Otu disclosed that at the end of 2023, an operating balance of the sum of N205 billion was also left in the coffers of the State government for the execution of developmental projects
He said that without borrowing money since he came into office, the Governor had embarked on massive developmental projects across the State, saying that the Governor is determined to give Deltans a better deal.
According to him, “Governor Oborevwori inherited a debt of N465 billion and by March he paid N130 billion, common sense tells us that before he leaves office, that debt would have been wiped off.
“There is debt servicing which is what most state governors do. Most state governors do not think of paying those loans but our Governor has considered it that for every debt you owe, you are putting a chain not on yourself but for generations yet unborn.
“As a demonstration of this empathy, he says Deltans should be free of debt burden and he is taking deliberate steps to liquidate the debts. He is very prudent and transparency is his watch word. He cannot be accused of funds mismanagement”.
He also said that; “it is no longer shocking that by the time we are talking of local government autonomy, the Governor announced that for the three months we had HPMs running the councils he did not touch the money of the local governments, so N14 billion was left.
Again, that is unusual in our times, but that is the kind of Governor that we have.”
“There is no gain saying that Delta has been transformed into a construction site. We are not talking of two or three years; we are talking of one year. Under one year, the Governor has turned Warri around. For the first time in the history of Delta State, Julius Berger is on ground and they are doing marvelous work in Warri. The storm drainage in Warri is going on as planned. There are countless road projects”, Mr Ofou added.
