A frontline media professional from Abak local government, Mr. Uwemedimo Umanah has described as cheap political blackmail, a recent statement credited to the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere where he blamed Governor Udom Emmanuel for the failure of NDDC to commence rehabilitation work on the failed portion of the Hospital Road in Abak more than a year since it awarded the contract.
Speaking with newsmen in his office, Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Media, called on the NDDC czar to apologize to Abak people for failing to fulfill his promise, instead of apportioning blame to the governor who played no role in his deceitful posture.According to Umanah “That is a blatant lie. When the matter was reported to government about the failed portion of the road, the State government had commence the process of fixing the road before the NDDC boss interrupted with a promise to fix it.
According to Mr Umanah, “the Works Commissioner went to that portion with a team of Engineers from the Ministry of Works to undertake an assessment on the extend of disrepair and went ahead to start designs on how to tackle the ecological challenge and restore the road. But unfortunately the NDDC MD wanted to use it to score cheap political capital”.
“If the NDDC boss is able to eschew political divisiveness and execute a good job, the people of Abak will commend him. Anybody that wants to use the Governor’s name to score a cheap point is being mischievous.”
The Governor’s media aide said further that, “if NDDC cannot do anything to remedy the road after making so much noise, anybody that goes about telling lies against the governor should be ignored by right thinking members of the public.”
He lamented that an Akwa Ibom son given such opportunity as Managing Director of NDDC, has refused to see reasons to sincerely tackle the challenges in his home state despite the enormous contributions of the state to the national purse, but opted to play politics with development.
Mr Ekere, had last week while receiving some APC elders of the old Abak division under the aegis of Abak Division Development Assembly (ADDA), claimed that the contract for the reconstruction of the Hospital Road was terminated and re-awarded to a new contractor after the previous contractor stopped work due to pressure from the state government
It would be recalled that the state government delegation led by the Commissioner for Works had visited the erosion ravaged section of the road and had promised to commence work on it once it concludes the designs and plans, but the NDDC management went there few days later to announce that it had awarded contract for the project.
This was backed by the immediate deployment of major construction implements to the site, prompting the state government to stand down its earlier plans.
But Ekere insisted without explanation that Governor Udom Emmanuel was the reason he has failed to commence work on the project which had been a subject of several plaudits to the commission last year.
“I keep saying we in government should leave playing politics for now. Let us concentrate on giving democracy dividends to the people”.
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