The governor of Delta State has been charged with inflating the cost of state projects by the All Progressives Congress, or APC.
The APC claimed that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori exaggerated the N50 billion cost of building three flyovers in Effurun, Warri, and that the project would not be finished in eight years.
Remember that Julius Berger Company PLC was given the contract a few months ago by Governor Oborevwori to construct three flyovers, a cloverleaf, and pedestrian bridges across PTI intersection, DSC roundabout, and Enerhen junction at a cost of N78 billion.
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A few weeks ago, the Delta Contractors Forum issued a warning, declaring that the N78 billion flyover project was a complete scam. They also stated that, in contrast to the state government’s assertion that the construction company was mobilised with N19 billion, or roughly 25% of the total cost, the Governor had fully mobilised Julius Berger with N78 billion.
The governor allegedly orchestrated a N125 billion project cost variation, according to the Contractors Forum, which also claimed that the governor colluded with the construction business to reimburse a N50 billion kickback.
Festus Ahon, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, refuted the claim, stating that Julius Berger would never agree to pay a contract. Nevertheless, he directed the reporters to Reuben Izeze, the Commissioner overseeing Urban and Highway roads, for a response.
Commissioner Izeze responded by calling the Contractors’ Forum accusation, which was included in a petition to the EFCC, “wicked and false.”
But he quickly changed the subject, claiming that the government would have to pay N1.7 billion for one of the flyover contract’s components—the relocation of the 333 KV transmission line—and that the entire process would take more than a year to finish.
However, the Delta State All Progressives Congress, or APC, has raised the alarm as the governor prepares to lay the project’s foundation today, alleging the multibillion-naira flyover project was not only a hoax but also a conduit pipe used to defraud Deltans of over N78 billion.
The APC stated that it was not feasible for three flyovers that are not longer than 1,500 metres and the extension of the NPA-DSC motorway from the Effurun roundabout to cost up to N78 billion in a statement signed by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Valentine Onojeghuo, in Asaba yesterday.
“The Leopard cannot change its spots,” the party public relations secretary said, accusing the Oborevwori administration of carrying out the vast fraud in which his predecessor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, ravaged the state economy for eight years.
Governor Oborevwori, who continues to swim in hundreds of billions of nairas of allocations, is celebrating the groundbreaking of three flyovers at a whopping cost of N78 billion, according to Onojeghuo. Meanwhile, Governor Zulum of Borno State, which is ravaged by Boko Haram, was celebrating 77 signature projects in his first 100 days in office.
The state APC further asserted that David Umahi, the current Minister of Works and the immediate former governor of Ebonyi State, did not spend up to N78 billion on the 18 flyovers he built in that state.
The party also demanded that Deltans ask Governor Oborevwori to consider the total amount of allocations and IGR that have been added to the state coffers during the five months that he has been in charge of the state’s government.
The Sheriff Oborevwori administration’s invitation for the public to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of three flyovers is absurd. With all of its riches, how is it that Delta State is only talking about three flyovers at this time in its history, but states like Rivers, which were led by Wike, had over nine flyovers for 63 billion before Wike left office?
“Why is the Delta State Sheriff’s Office spending 78 billion to build only three flyovers? Ben Ayade, the former governor of Cross River State, did not just build flyovers and highways; he also developed businesses in several regions of the state, providing jobs for the state’s indigenous population.
However, in our state, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his PDP allies are commemorating the groundbreaking of three flyovers as a victory at a moment when Governor Sanwo Olu Lagos State has finished building and is currently running a blue rail public transport system and has started work on the red line rail system, which is phase two.
He went on, “This is just another one of those jamborees that the Delta State PDP government has been known for—a celebration of mediocrity.”
