Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has said that he has the right to contest for the Delta South Senatorial seat, adding that he has grown in the politics of Nigeria and therefore qualify to go contest for any elective position in the country.
Governor Uduaghan gave this revelation today during a press briefing with journalists in the state at the newly built Government House in Asaba, the state capital.
Governor Uduaghan said there was an unwritten zonal arrangement among the different ethnic nationalities in Delta South, stressing that such rotational arrangement favours the Itsekiris where he hails from.
He also denounced rumour of his possible defection from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to another party as untrue, describing it as a plot to destabilize the party in the state.
He disclosed that those are peddling such rumour of his defection to an opposition party to seek a senatorial ambition want to destroy the existing peace in the party in the state, adding that as founding a member of the Peoples Democratic Party he was ready to sink with the party if the need arises.
While disclosing that there were pressure on him to declare for the Delta South Senatorial seat, Governor Uduaghan was quick to say that the time was not yet ripe for such politicking, emphasizing that all he was more concerned about at the moment was delivering dividends of democracy to Deltans.
He said; “I am a life member of PDP and I am new in politics. As a foundation member of the party PDP will not sink in Delta state in particular, and Nigeria as a whole. If PDP is sinking I will sink with it no matter what happened. Almost all the members in the Delta State House of Assembly are PDP members. PDP is now more united in Delta state than before.
“I am not dumping PDP. Though there are pressure on me to join senatorial race but when the right time comes the people will know where I am going. I have the right to go to senate come 2015. I have a lot to offer but I should not be breaking my head over 2015 senatorial election,” he said.
On the crisis rocking the PDP, the governor said, “It is true we have some challenges that have made some of my colleagues to move out of the party. PDP will wax stronger in 2014; PDP is still a strong grassroots based party. Nobody is mourning over the lost of membership of the party to other parties.”
According to him, “Let me tell you something that you did not know. Because of the restructuring in 2007 my name was removed from my ward register. But I fought the battle in the party. I did not decamp to another party and at the end of the day I ended up becoming the governor. So, I make bold to say that PDP will not sink in Delta State and Nigeria.”
He posited that the party is strongly in support of President Jonathan led administration, noting that in spite of the numerous challenges facing his administration he has done remarkably well for Nigerians.
He said; “We in Delta State will give the president who has done a lot our support. He has carried on despites the challenges. We will appeal to others to support the president; destractions for the president has been much. Members of national assembly have been supportive of the president and they should not relent.”
While explaining reasons why the local government election in Delta State has not yet been conducted, he said he does not have the power to declare the date of the election, stressing that it was only the duty of the electoral umpire to fix a date for the election.
Speaking on his administration’s achievements, Dr. Uduaghan said his administration would finish strong in its three point agenda of Peace and Security, Human Capital Development, and Infrastructural Development.
In the area of security, Governor Uduaghan read the riot act on all criminals in the state, saying that security agents in the state are not losing sleep over the security issues in the state. He advised all criminals in the state to relocate to other place because the state would be too hot for them.
He asserted that in 2014 his administration would not lose sleep in ensuring that ongoing projects in the state are completed before the end of his administration.
