A source said the former Governor’s sole
aim, as his tenure wound down, was to
financially cripple the State beyond recovery
before his exit. He said the evidence
gathered so far was overwhelming. Under
Uduaghan, Delta State received a monthly
allocation of about N10 billion from the
Federation Account. The former Governor
entered into so-called irrevocable standing
payment order (ISPO) bonds of N5.1 and
N1.2 billion respectively, deductible at source
from the State’s monthly allocation from the
Federation Account. After these deductions,
the State’s net receipt fell to N3.7 billion a month.
Two top officials of new administration in Delta State, who
are close associates of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, have
accused former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of running
the State with a troubling depth of financial profligacy. One
of the sources described the state of affairs in Delta as
“Cyclone Uduaghan,” alleging that the former Governor not
only ran the State aground financially, but also actually
went ahead to program a catastrophe for the just
inaugurated administration of Governor Okowa.
One source said Governor Okowa had chosen not to whine
like many of his colleagues, but added that the incumbent
Governor “knows [full] well that he is in trouble. In
fact, several elder statesmen across the State are putting
pressure on him to let the world know what he met on
ground.”
Governor Okowa’s newly appointed spokesmen
are declining to comment publicly on the issue, which is
threatening to boil over in Delta State. But they privately
admit that the State’s financial shape is dire.
Mr. Uduaghan, a medical doctor, reportedly left behind a
total debt of more than N773 billion, according to current
estimates by officials of the state. They disclosed that ex-
Governor Uduaghan accumulated liabilities to the tune of
N238.6 billion in the form of bonds, bank debts and related
obligations, and an additional N534.6 billion in
pure contractual liabilities.
A source said the former Governor’s sole aim, as his tenure
wound down, was to financially cripple the State beyond
recovery before his exit. He said the evidence gathered so
far was overwhelming. Under
Uduaghan, Delta State received a monthly allocation
of about N10 billion from the Federation Account. The
former Governor entered into so-called irrevocable standing
payment order (ISPO) bonds of N5.1 and N1.2 billion
respectively, deductible at source from the State’s monthly
allocation from the Federation Account. After these
deductions, the State’s net receipt fell to N3.7 billion a
month.
The State's internally generated revenues (IGR) of N3.5
billion a month bumped the figure up to N7.3 billion a
month. On the surface, revenues of N7.3 billion look like a
tidy sum for Delta State, and Mr. Uduaghan used that figure
to claim that he did not leave an empty treasury.
However, our sources described the former Governor’s
claim as a big lie. They revealed that personnel costs, in
terms of salaries, pensions and other benefits to workers,
amount to N7.6 billion each month. In addition, statutory
transfers to statutory agencies, including the Delta State Oil
Producing Areas Development Commission (DESPOPADEC),
amount to N4.3 billion a month. Overhead costs in the State
public service are N4.4 billion a month, bringing
the State’s total statutory expenditure to N16.3 billion a
month.
“Governor Okowa would need to borrow N9.1 billion every
month just to run government business in Delta,” said one
source. He added, “If His Excellency, Dr. Okowa, chooses
not to borrow, then his administration is dead on arrival.”
The source accused Mr. Uduaghan of aiming to ambush his
predecessor with a financial picture that is programmed to
lead to Mr. Okowa’s failure. “Where will the new
administration source the funds to bring development
projects and initiatives to the people of the state as
the dividends of governance?” one source asked.
Our sources accused Mr. Uduaghan of structuring the
repayment schedule of the loans to start in June 2015 to
coincide with the arrival of a new administration in the
State.
To clearly illustrate the weight of the financial burden that
Uduaghan left behind, one source said, “If you shared the
debt exposure of N773.2 billion [among] the entire local
government areas in Nigeria, each council would amass a
debt burden of N1 billion.”
Two of our sources claimed that Mr. Uduaghan frittered
away scarce State resources to serve his obscene taste for
expensive personal acquisitions as well as his unrestrained
social lifestyle. They said that, with the State treasury at his
disposal, the former Governor spend recklessly in pursuit of
his adulterous escapades, often with married
women from across the state and beyond. One source said
Mr. Uduaghan seemed to have a weird attraction
to women married to public figures in his State, adding that
he was particularly obsessed with any women who were
linked to his cousin and former Governor, James Onanefe
Ibori. Mr. Ibori is serving a 13-year jail term in the UK after
pleading no-contest to charges of laundering tens of
millions of pound sterling through British courts and
institutions.
Some officials in Delta State allege that, after the April
11 governorship election, Mr. Uduaghan spent eye-popping
sums to purchase 15 swanky homes in the United Arab
Emirates. They add that Mr. Uduaghan paid for all 15
properties on the same day, as if he were an oil sheik.
By contrast, former Governor Uduaghan’s critics say he
left no meaningful projects or infrastructure in Delta State
during his eight-year control of the State treasury, save for
a dubious Asaba Airport project that has gulped more
than N40 billion but has yet to be approved by Nigerian
aviation authorities because of the facility’s haphazard
conception, construction and delivery.
“Today, the five major cities of the state, namely Warri,
Asaba, Agbor, Sapele and Ughelli, remain a shadow of
themselves,” one critic said.
Another source said that, while a few other oil-producing
states were busy advancing the fortunes of their States
with such infrastructure as metro rails, stadia and
highways, Mr. Uduaghan’s administration “simply dipped
its hands in the state treasury and simply asked Deltans to
‘go to hell.’”
Source: SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK
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