A former governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday said he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support President Muhammadu Buhari.
Uduaghan said Buhari has achieved a lot in entrenching peace in the Niger Delta and putting in place infrastructural facilities in the region, saying the president needs the support of people like him.
The former governor joined the ruling APC barely three weeks after the former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Senator Godswill Akpabio also from the South-South region defected to the ruling party.
The duo last night attended the national caucus meeting of the APC in Abuja.
Giving reason for his defection in a statement titled, “Moving Onto the Bigger Playing Field’, Uduaghan said President Buhari has from the inception of his administration set his priorities right in creating an enabling environment for peace in the Niger Delta region.
With the commitment of the president, he said “it became incumbent on every well-meaning Niger Deltan and Nigerian to assist the process of building an economically prosperous nation.”
According to him, rather than using the military to harass the people of the Niger Delta, the Buhari administration has embarked on various engagement processes that have led to agreements and brought hope to the people of the Niger Delta.
Uduaghan listed the achievements of the president in the region to include establishment of Maritime University; setting up of a steering committee for the EPZ (GAS CITY), plan for a deep sea port, the dredging of the Escravos-Warri River; and opening of the railway line to Delta Steel Company, among others.
“There are also various human capital development programmes especially the school feeding and the “social security net” that is making N5,000 available to the poor, continuation of the YouWin programme, the various SME programmes, and several other projects across the region that have brought hope to the people,” he said.
“Mr. President has personally engaged several regional leaders and youths. Senior officials of his administration also engaged many Niger Delta leaders and youths. Very significant is that Mr. President mandated Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN, to visit virtually all the oil producing states, engaging various stakeholders. This is unprecedented in the history of the region. Such engagement processes have brought some measure of peace in the Niger Delta. Things can only get better.”
Uduaghan enjoined other Niger Delta people to support the government in its drive to bring lasting peace to the region.
