By Francis Sadhere
The Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has called on the people of the state, especially politicians to remove ethnicity and religion from politics, saying that the trend could lead to serious and dangerous crisis in the state and country as a whole.
The Governor made this call on Friday in Warri during a breakfast meeting with journalists in the state.
The Governor said he is worried by the way and manner politicians have infused ethnicity and religion into Nigerian politics noting that ethnicity and religion are ready tools for inciting the people into violence.
Governor Uduaghan, therefore, advised politicians to be cautious about the kind of comments they make as they go about their different campaigns stressing that no political position was worth the life of a human being. He said politics should not be a do or die affair because four year term is shorter than people think adding that politics of hatred and bitterness cannot move a nation forward.
He noted that though there is no election devoid of tension as people struggle for limited political positions, he warned that politicians should go about their campaigns peacefully and stop campaign of calumny and targeted at individuals.
The Delta State Governor urged politicians to base their campaigns on issues rather than individuals and personality, saying that if he knew that eight years would look very short, he would not have struggled the way he struggled.
On the rumour going round that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state was divided, Governor Uduaghan said there was no division in the party, just as he reiterated that the ruling party will come out victorious in the February elections.
He said the indices recorded at the last primaries of PDP in the state was enough proof that the party was well organized and is ready to win all the elections, adding that he is very confident that the President will have enough votes from the state.
On the suspension of the groundbreaking of the $16 bn gas city project by President Goodluck Jonathan, Governor Uduaghan revealed that the President suspended the groundbreaking because of security reasons, adding that a fresh date for the groundbreaking would be fixed around March this year.
On the BRT project in Warri, Governor Uduaghan said the project is still ongoing noting that the contractors will move to site very soon and that project is not abandoned. He added that though the project was faced with financial challenges, everything has now been resolved.
On the use of tricycles (popularly called keke) for armed robbery, governor Uduaghan stressed that if the trend continues the state government will be forced to review its use in the state.
