By Francis Sadhere
Former Delta state Governorship candidate under the Mega People’s Party (MPP) in the 2011 general election, Chief Afro Biukeme has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe former Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, saying that Dr. Uduaghan’s administration was a failure.
Chief Biukeme who spoke to our correspondent in an exclusive interview at his Warri Office, said that he was specifically calling on the EFCC to probe the immediate past governor of the state for his poor handling of the Independent Power Project (IPP) that gulped billions of naira with nothing to show for it.
The Warri based Marine business man said that he was not satisfied with the way and manner the IPP project was handled by the immediate past governor of the state, insisting that the present administration in the State led by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa must beam searchlight on the project with a view to finding out why the project was abandoned.
“I am particularly pained by the Independent Power Project (IPP) that was started during Uduaghan’s tenure but was abandoned along the line. I want the EFCC to probe him on that project. Despite spending so much money on that project, we have nothing to show for it and right now Deltans are suffering from epileptic power supply. Our street lights were running on diesel, but today they are no longer working. I want the EFCC to probe all those that worked with Uduaghan during his eight years tenure” he said.
He added that; “We were told that the equipment for the execution of the project was raised down by fire. How it happened we were not told. If I have a house and it got burnt by fire, I should be able to find out how that house caught fire. They told us the equipment meant for the IPP were gutted by fire but up till today nobody has come out to tell us how it got burnt.”
“There was no investigation panel set to up to investigate the remote cause of the fire and how much damage that was done to the equipment by the fire. We do not know anything. We have fire fighting instruments that can tell us what really happened. It is not the media that will tell us what happened. Is it right for them not to investigate the incident? You cannot set your own house on fire and call fire fighters to come and put it out. We are going to take that issue up as a political party and we must get to the root of the matter,” Biukeme said.
He said unless the former governor of the State was probe by the EFCC, the fight against corruption being orchestrated by President Mohammadu Buhari administration would be meaningless.
Chief Biukeme said, “His (Udughan’s) administration was very poor and nothing to write home about because he did not leave any legacy on ground. Uduaghan should not be allowed to go underground just like that. He should be made to come out for a probe. But if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission cannot probe Uduaghan then they are not doing their work properly. EFCC cannot be seen to be fighting corruption if they cannot probe Uduaghan. He ruled this state for eight years and for these eight years he was not able to impact the lives of Deltans.”
Chief Biukeme also called on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to investigate and probe the eight years tenure of former governor Uduaghan, saying that if Okowa wants to tell Deltans the truth, then he should probe Uduaghan so that he will earn the people’s trust.
In his words; “I want the present government to fully investigate the IPP project. We also want the present government to investigate the eight years of former Governor Uduaghan because we know how much came into the state during these eight years. Uduaghan acquired so much during his eight years in power. We want to know how he spent all the money that came to the state during his tenure.”
According to him; “If Okowa wants to speak the truth and make Deltans celebrate his government, he should call for Uduaghan’s probe. But if he cannot do that, I am going to ensure that Uduaghan is probed by the EFCC because I am not from PDP. We have written so many petitions against the former Governor and his wife because they have acquired so much wealth from their eight years rule while the masses are suffering”.
“Subsequently I am going to provide evidence of how Uduaghan has acquired so much property in the state and outside the state. The former Commissioners of Uduaghan have acquired so much wealth to the detriment of tax payers who have been at the receiving end. All of them have choice property both in and outside of the state,” he added.
Efforts to reach the Delta State former Governor were not successful, but one of the his aides who did not want his name in print said the former Governor did his best for Deltans while in office and advised Chief Afro Biukeme to channel his energy to meaningful things rather than asking for the head of the ex-governor.
He said, “Former Governor Oduaghan did his best while in office. We should allow him to have his peace now that he is out of office. Chief Afro Biukeme should direct his energy into meaningful things, rather than calling for the probe of the former governor.
