Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, has disowned one of his media aides, who criticised the economic policies of the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government of President Bola Tinubu.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Sir Festus Ahon, yesterday, said neither he nor the CPS issued any statement lambasting Tinubu’s economic policies, adding that as a governor, his duty was fully focusing on the governance and development of his state.
Ahon responded to a report credited to one of the Executive Assistants, New Media, to the Governor, Mr. Felix Ofou, who was said to have lampooned Tinubu’s economic policies.
Ofou had, while responding to former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege’s recent diatribe on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, at an APC event in Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area of the state, took Tinubu to the cleaners, questioning the value of the increased federal allocations amid galloping inflation, Naira devaluation, and widespread poverty.
Omo-Agege had, at an APC event, applauded the economic policies of the Tinubu-led government, stressing that it has led to increased federal allocation to states and local governments, rising economic growth rates, declining imports, higher exports, and higher incomes for farmers.
But Ofou queried: “Can we really talk of increased money in any state in Nigeria? What is the worth of such money in the face of galloping inflation, gross devaluation of the Naira, unparalleled hunger, mass poverty, mass unemployment, daily closure of major factories and multinationals in the country?
“Is this the model that Omo-Agege is recommending for Delta to copy? A model that has unleashed economic hardship on the people? Why would anyone recommend APC’s T-pain as a remedy to our woes? Obviously, this is not a path desirable for Deltans and one they would want to embrace at this time.”
However, following the backlash the report had generated in the media, Ahon frowned that a personal article written by Ofou was being mischievously and deliberately misinterpreted by a section of the media, adding that, contrary to perception, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori had a harmonious working relationship with President Tinubu.
According to him, “the governor has constantly urged Deltans and other Nigerians to continue to give support to President Bola Tinubu. If the President fails, he, as a governor, would have failed, too.”
He said this was the same view Governor Oborevwori lucidly expressed at the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) event on Saturday, December 7, at which event, he said, inter alia: “I want to appeal to Urhobo nation today, I am saying it here, I am an Urhobo man and I am Governor of Delta State. But I will tell you today, whether you like it or not, that President Bola Tinubu is supporting this administration. God has made him the President as God has made me the Governor of Delta State.
“So, as you are supporting me, support him because if he fails, I will fail, but by the grace of God, he will not fail and I will not fail, too.
“Mr President has appointed our sons and daughters into various positions. He did not appoint people from outside the state. God has given him victory and God has given me victory; you people should support us to succeed.
“It is, therefore, imperative to state categorically that, as Chief Press Secretary, and official spokesman of the Governor of Delta State, Governor Oborevwori did not, and has never expressed such views on Mr President’s economic policies.
“The general public is, therefore, advised to jettison such misleading reports as they do not reflect the views of the Governor, who is working very hard to provide good governance for Deltans and other residents of the state, despite the present economic challenges facing the citizens.”
Credit: The Sun