Delta state Commissioner for Information, Chike Ogeah Esq, has described as a threat of people’s freedom to free speech and association, the recent contemptuous statements attributed to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, where the state governor was alleged to have claimed that the “People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is only one political party in Delta State.”
Ogeah, in a vexed reaction to the statement credited to one Ariyo Robinson, a Warri-based legal practitioner, described Ariyo as a member of a motley group of people rabidly sworn to insulting people in authority by telling bare-faced lies and initiating mischief.
A statement signed by the Delta State Commissioner for Information, CHIKE C. OGEAH Esq., and made available to Blank NEWS Online reads:
The attention of the Delta State Government has been drawn to a news story published in some newspapers and online journals where a certain Ariyo Robinson accused the Governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, CON of threatening the freedom of expression and association of the people of the state.
Robinson’s sole basis for this allegation is the statement he attributed to the Governor where he asserted that the “People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is only one political party in Delta State” (sic). To Robinson who is whimsically described as a Warri-based “peace building consultant”, this statement amounts to threat of people’s freedom to free speech and association.
For somebody also described as a lawyer, Robinson’s weird understanding of the statement shows an amazing depth of ignorance, naivety and infantile mischief. First, Robinson isolated a sentence he left incomplete and tried vainly to give it a mischievous interpretation. At a time that the PDP had challenges of cohesion at some states in the country, Delta State stood out as one beacon where the party remained united and free of rancour.
And even when the All Progressive Congress (APC) emerged as an amalgamation of some parties without any base in Delta State, the emerging opposition party remained a distant entity to the people of the state.
This much was echoed by leaders of the PDP in Delta State, including the Governor at various fora. To give the full picture of what Robinson was unable to understand, PDP leaders in Delta State maintained that the party remains the only credible party with a pan-state agenda and outlook committed to uplifting the fortunes of the people of the state and give them the power to be what they can be as the administration of Dr. Uduaghan has succeeded in doing over the past seven years.
If the PDP joins the people of Delta State to celebrated the manifest achievements of Governor Uduaghan, how does that amount to threat of democracy. We do not need to remind Robinson that the APC had at various times spoken about its desire to capture the state. This is an aspiration they are perfectly entitled to. Would the self styled “peace building consultant” consider this a threat to freedom and democracy too?
We understand where Robinson is coming from. He is one of the motley group of people rabidly sworn to abusing Dr. Uduaghan. Having found that the weather beaten allegation of non-performance no longer connects with the people what with the unprecedented transformation of the state, he is now clutching at straws in a vain attempt to criticise the governor.
For a governor with a distinguished record in developing the human element in the state, revolutionized the health sector through the introduction of emergency ambulance services and mobile hospitals, instituted free maternal and child care and built hospitals with world class facilities in all parts of the state, Robinson must be be blinded by incurable pessimism and hate of the person of the Governor.
The good thing is that Deltans are no longer taken in by the bare-faced lies and mischief that had been pedaled in the past and are united in celebrating their governor who has transformed the entire landscape.
Signed:
CHIKE C. OGEAH Esq
Delta State Commissioner for Information
