Bailout funds: Delta APC tales on Okowa mischievous – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Delta State has read with great concern a press statement issued by the fractured Delta State All Progressives Party and signed by one Engr. Leonard Obibi, who describes himself as the State Publicity Secretary (Ag) of the party, linking Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to a report in some national news dailies alleging that a Governor from one of the Oil Producing States in Nigeria, diverted $10 million bail-out fund through a so-called 'mistress.'

The statement by the Delta APC is baseless, unfounded, tendentious, malicious and deliberately calculated to impugn the integrity of Governor Okowa whose reputation as a God-fearing man, astute administrator and good manager of resources is well known and is driving fear into his enemies. Perhaps, it would be too much to expect anything more from a party that is filled with renegades, dubious characters, opportunists and failed politicians.

Suffice it to say that the original report by The Nation newspaper did not mention Governor Okowa and credited 'a source within the EFCC' for the story. Moreover, the Commission itself has not commented on the story nor suggested and confirmed their involvement. But the APC is shamelessly dragging Okowa into what is at best a speculative story and at worst the job of paid hirelings, in a desperate bid to gain relevance, further proof of their notoriety as a party of irresponsible and mischievous people. The Delta APC can be likened to a drowning man clutching at every available straw for survival.

In their desperation to establish an ethnic link, the Delta APC described Georgina Onuoha, the central figure in a Facebook altercation relating to the story, as 'an actress that hails from the Ika-speaking area of Delta State and based in Texas U.S.A.' But this is a complete lie and misinformation. Georgina Onuoha has told the world that she is from Ihitte/Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State. She also disclosed for the benefit of the APC nit wits who know nothing about the cities in the United States that she lives in Sacremento, California, not Texas. So where did the APC get their own information from if not for mischief purposes?

For the benefit of the unsuspecting public, we wish to make it abundantly clear that State Governments DO NOT RECEIVE DOLLARS from the Federal Government, whether FAAC allocation or bail-out funds. So where did the APC get the information that Delta State received $10 million as bail-out fund if it is not the figment of their own imagination? If we are to go by their phantom story, how was it diverted? Was it by wire transfer? How is that kind of transaction possible given the stringent foreign exchange regulations currently in place in Nigeria? Or is the Delta APC suggesting that $10 million was moved by cash through the nation's airports? Can such a huge amount of money be transferred into the United States without triggering the red flag at both the Financial Intelligence Units in Nigeria and the United States of America, because they receive, analyse and distribute financial intelligence gathered from Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on per seconds basis? Can the ailing APC do Deltans a favour by giving us the details of the account that the $10 million was diverted to since it claimed that the money has been traced to a particular bank account?

Even as they torture their feeble minds to grapple with these very simple but critical posers, we wish to assure the divided and divisive APC in Delta State that their cheap attempt to cast aspersions on the solid reputation of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has failed woefully, as it is already common knowledge that he is a man of unassailable integrity and great moral rectitude. Governor Okowa will not be distracted by the antics of these disgruntled politicians. He remains irrevocably focused on his stated vision of bringing prosperity to all Deltans as evident in the fruits of his job creation programme, infrastructural renewal and agricultural reforms. Deltans know better than to believe the APC, a party that has become synonymous with lies and vile propaganda and has not fulfilled one electoral promise since it gained power at the centre.

Ifeanyi Michael Osuoza
State Publicity Secretary
PDP, Delta State