GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, yesterday, opened up on the real reasons he relinquished his senatorial ambition, saying it was because he did not want to leave office in a crisis situation, especially with intelligence information that guns would boom in Warri after his victory.
Uduaghan, who spoke to journalists in Warri, said it was a similar scenario that there would be bloodshed between the Ijaw and Itsekiri if President Goodluck Jonathan had performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the $16 billion Delta Gas City at Ogidigben, last year. The need for peace, he said, led to postponement of the ceremony.
On his role during the December 8, 2014, governorship primaries of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, that produced Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, as the party’s governorship candidate, he said the full story of what happened at the primaries would be told at the appropriate time.
His words, “There was heavy build-up most especially Delta South Senatorial elections and I asked myself, what would I be doing in the Senate if the process leading to that election would lead to another crisis in Warri.?”
“I am sure you will have more to report as journalists, but you will also not feel comfortable if there is no peace in the city. We are enjoying some freedom and peace now. There is no curfew. I have the strong belief that if I had gone for the PDP senate primary, by now there would have been curfew in Warri,” he asserted. Probably for the sake of peace, too, he did not want to expatiate and name those spoiling for war in the area.
The governor stated, “I do not want to leave office in a crisis situation. That is the reason I had to drop my senatorial ambition. I believe we do not have to go to the extent we go sometimes to seek power. We do not have to go to the extent of causing war or chaos.”
He said he felt justified on his position when President Jonathan, after perusing security information, also postponed the EPZ groundbreaking ceremony, maintaining that peace and security of the people remained paramount. He said he was against people exploiting the political ambition of somebody to foment crisis in the state.
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