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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State has been encouraged to sustain his stance against borrowing.
The advice was given by the Movement for the Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) after he emerged winner of the 2024 ThisDay/Arise Governor of the Year award.
MOSIEND said the prestigious award given to Governor Oborevwori was due to his outstanding achievements in office in less than two years, saying that “this was greatly influenced by his exceptional leadership style, ranging from fiscal discipline to infrastructural development of the state.”
MOSIEND National Vice President, Thompson Fuoye Robert, in a statement yesterday, said the recognition given to the governor on Monday night in Lagos was well-deserved and vowed to throw more support behind his administration.
Robert said Oborevwori “is one man who has managed the monies of the state prudently, being the only governor who has not borrowed a dime from anywhere to run the affairs of the state.
“This is very unusual because almost all the governors have taken loans one way or another, thereby plunging their states into more debts—a cancerous epidemic destroying the future of many nations.
“Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was measured at the prudent level of using what he has to develop the state, rather than going to borrow and put the state in more debts.”
According to him, “everybody understands that his predecessor has left a lot of burdens on the state which, ordinarily, should be yardsticks for him to borrow money, but he chose not to borrow; rather, he is using what he has to develop the state.
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“Don’t forget that even as it is, our former oga will still be collecting his own chunk, and yet, Oborevwori has refused to take any loan.
“Despite refusing to take loans, the man is still developing the state. Don’t forget, even those two major bridges alone, to be able to award those kinds of contracts in Warri alone in the first year, it is not an easy task, and the work is going on steadily—a high-profile construction firm like Julius Berger, you know what it means.
“And if you go to our Ijaw communities, projects are going on—Ayakorumo Bridge is ongoing—they are working there. In Asaba, almost all the link roads, they are working there. In Udu, Isoko, they are constructing roads, everywhere.
“The road from Asaba through Ozoro to Ughelli, they are working there 24 hours. Whether you like it or not, it may not translate to the fact that he’s doing well, well, well, but at least, in the past one year, he has been able to show capacity.
“So, that is the measurement they used, and we agree with ThisDay totally, because when we look at those two major projects in Warri alone, you know—some people could do them in four years.
“If the governor continues at this pace or improves on it, definitely, his first tenure will bring a lot of good to the state because he has shown that he’s not only doing this within the Okpe axis where he is from, but he has tried to centralise major projects across the three senatorial districts of the state.
“He has shown that he is not a governor who believes in developing his area first, and with all these, we know he will come out well in his first tenure.
“We are also urging everybody—all political actors, whether opposition or not—to understand that the time for elections is gone, and we now have a governor who is doing well; everybody should join hands together and support him.
“When the time for election comes, they are free to talk and castigate him, but for now, the man is doing well and everybody should support him; that’s what MOSIEND is saying.”
