GROUP RAISES THE ALARM OVER GOV. UDUAGHAN'S PLAN TO SELL STATE ASSETS

Few months to the expiration of his tenure, a group has accused Delta Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of rushing to sell some assets of the state. The group working under the aegis of the Delta Coalition for Good Government (DCGG) insisted the governor's planned sale of Delta State shares in Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited, Midwestern Oil & Gas Company Limited and investment in Guaranteed Consolidated Notes, was ill-motivated and wicked.

Coming 50 days to the general elections, the proposed sales, according to the group, amounts to mortgaging “the future of Deltans at the eleventh hour and insensitive to the aspirations and yearnings of Deltans for a better tomorrow.” The group said it decided to blow the whistle on the deal in view of the desperation of the parties involved in the controversial sale of the state assets.

While accusing the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ken Okpara, of complicity in the matter, the group alleged that the former had in connivance with the governor, “hurriedly prepared a memo and approved between January 26th and 28th to sell off 100 per cent of Delta State investment in Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited for N2 billion without disclosure of how that N2billion was arrived at, the appropriateness of that price and the identity of the buyers.”

Besides, the group said, it was: “Most scandalous and alarming that government should sell shares belonging to Deltans for a price of N1.8billion yet there is no disclosure of the shares, their numbers and identity of the prospective buyers. “This is unacceptable to Deltans in general. We want EFCC to probe these deals.”