Discordant voices have continued to trail the over 939 abandoned projects across Delta State. In a statement signed by its chairman, Comrade Moses Akpor, and secretary, Joseph Otor, a group known as Good Governance, which also revealed that 97 other projects were shoddily executed, threatened a showdown with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, saying he was insensitive to the yearnings of the people.
But the state government, through the permanent secretary, Ministry of Works, Mr. Donatus Umukoro, explained that the projects were initiated in 2012, adding that they were contained in the 3-point agenda of the Uduaghan administration.
Part of the statement reads: “Our survey indicates that these projects were initiated to divert funds into personal accounts, and we shall at all costs fight the injustice of such fictitious projects.”
The group further lamented that no meaningful projects have taken place across the state during the period under review.
In his reaction, the state Commissioner for Information, Barr Chike Ogeah, described the group as faceless, with the intention to distract the government of Emmanuel Uduaghan.
He noted that the rainy season, as well as lack of fund, was the major challenge facing some of the projects that were yet to be completed, adding that ongoing projects have been included in the 2013 budget of the state.