The letter titled “YOUR DICTATORIAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REIGN OF UNACCOUNTABILITY IN DELTA STATE”, the elderstatesman, lampooned Atiku’s running mate, saying he betrayed the people of Southern Nigeria.
Clark also described the Governor as corrupt, dictatorial clanish and nepotistic in his leadership of the state.
According to Clark, Okowa will not succeed in his vice presidential candidate project because he is selfish.
He also accused the Okowa Administration of lack of accountability in the management of state resources.
He accused Okowa of siphoning the Delta State government fund to salvage his ambition of becoming the Vice president of Nigeria.
The former Minister of Information in the first republic said Okowa succeeded in intimidating his opposition in the state by his misuse of power..
The elder statesman lamented that Okowa permitted those leaders from the State who betrayed Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential Primaries in 2010/2011, to relocate to Delta State government to perpetuate their evil design with.
Clark stressed that Okowa betrayed the Southern Governors Forum and used the Asaba Accord as a platform to negotiate a safer ground by accepting to serve as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
He said that Okowa new he had the intention to run as running mate when he agreed with his fellow Governors from the South that they should not accept to be running mate in the primaries.
He said that Okowa directed delegates from Delta State to vote for Atiku in the PDP primaries against Southern Nigeria despite the agreement reach in the Asaba meeting which Okowa coordinated and the support of the position by the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum.
The letter reads in full:
“Your Excellency, my letter will definitely come to you as a surprise because of my unusual silence over your nearly eight years governance in Delta State.
” But my unusual silence does not mean I have kept a blind eye over some corrupt and misuse of power by you.
“This is particularly, having regards to my activities during your predecessors reign where I openly criticized them, and I was tagged a trouble maker by my detractors; hence I did not act for sometime during your administration.
“It is my intension therefore to release some of these ugly information to Delta State people by your lack of sincere, lack of honest, and lack of transparent administration.
“This is especially as the Delta people are scared of you and unable to speak out against your government. Most of them have been reduced to mere robots either because of self interest or personal patronage or the allowances they receive from the Government.
” I am indeed very sad that some of our leaders from the State who betrayed us in Abuja during Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential Primaries in 2010/2011 have relocated to Delta State to perpetuate their evil design again.
“Let them be warned, otherwise, they will be exposed.
BETRAYAL OF SACRED TRUST
“Today, I say with certainty that you are more dictatorial than any other Military Administrator that has administered Delta State since its creation in 1991.
“I can therefore understand why you have deliberately and immorally betrayed your colleagues of Southern Nigeria and the people for your own selfish ambition by wanting to land on a safer ground by accepting to serve as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
No, by God’s grace your prayer will not be answered. Perhaps, you have forgotten the gravity of the offence you have committed against the people of Southern Nigeria.
“In order to cover your nefarious plot, you voluntarily induced everyone to host a meeting of the 17 Southern Governors in Government House Asaba on Tuesday 11th May 2021.
“You gave them a very good reception and provided them a secretariat that drafted the communiqué under your supervision, which was ably read by the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State.
“It was indeed a bombshell, as you collectively demanded for Southern Presidency and insisted that non of you should accept to be a Vice President.
“Shortly afterwards, the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), which I lead, gave the governor’s declaration 100% support and declared that no Southern serving Governors, Legislators or Politicians should accept to be running mate, particularly to Atiku Abubakar.
“The 17 Governors later met again in Lagos and Enugu to affirm the decision taken in your Government House Asaba. Little did we know that you were using this to perfect your secret plan to be running mate to Atiku Abubakar from the very beginning.
“We are therefore not surprised that you directed all the delegates from Delta State not to vote for Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State or Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State who are your neighbours but instead, they voted massively for Atiku Abubakar during the PDP Presidential Primaries last year.
“It would be recalled in 2007, that Delta State finances were used in funding part of the election of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua through the directive of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We were therefore not surprised when you too have decided to finance Atiku Abubakar with Delta People’s money because; there is nobody to challenge you.
” I repeat, you will not succeed.
“It is therefore in your own interest to openly apologise to your colleagues of both APC and PDP whom you deceived in taking a decision you never believed in.
” After your unreserved apology to your people and Southern Nigeria, you should step down your ambition of becoming Vice-Presidential candidate of the PDP.
“There your honour lies. We can now understand the reason why you are never serious with your Chairmanship of the South-South Governors Forum since this will definitely compromise your ambition.
You never for one day joined your colleagues to condemn the atrocities being perpetrated against our people particularly the atrocities being committed by the armed AK 47 herdsmen who invaded Uvwheru, Igbuzor, Okpanam, Abraka and very lately Patani.
“This is because it will annoy your Northern friends.
“However, the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) have resolved to oppose your joint candidature with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and this we will continue to do until election day.
“THE REIGN OF CORRUPTION AND THE QUESTION OF 13%
“Take note, there are many issues of corruption and abuse of office perpetrated by you and your Government; this is ranging from one of your siblings partaking in the building of the Prof. Chike Edozien New Civil Service Secretariat Complex, Asaba.
“Because of the trust and believe we had in you at the time, we did not react to the exposing report made by Sahara Reporters on the 19th April, 2018, where he accused you of being the brain behind the fraud scandal related to the new secretariat complex in Asaba.
“I reproduce hereunder part of the scandalous allegations made against you and your cohorts by Sahara Reporters;
“Scandal: Gov. Okowa, Sister, SSG, Others Embroiled In N13.6bn Secretariat Complex Fraud
“April 19, 2018
Sahara Reporters, New York
Delta state Governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Okowa, his sister, Ivana Shenton, Secretary to the State Government, (SSG), Festus Ovie Agas, Commissioner for Special Duties, Government House, Asaba, Henry Sakpra, a former Zenith Bank manager, Osadebe Osakwe and others have been indicted in a N13.6 billion fraud scandal related to a new secretariat complex being built by the state.
“Information available to this website indicated that the governor awarded the contract for the new central secretariat complex to North China Construction Company Nigeria Limited (NCCG) which allegedly has the governor’s sister, Ivana Shenton and former Zenith Bank manager, Osadebe Osakwe as ‘frontiers.’
“Checks by Sahara Reporters revealed that North China Construction Nigeria Limited was registered two years before the emergence of Okowa as a governor with Corporate Affairs Commission registration number, RC 1113315, and is being managed by Osadebe Osakwe, the former Zenith Bank manager who is also a strong ally of the Delta governor”.
“This will be fully developed in my next statement on the affairs of the state, including your alleged vested interests in a newly established bank, Premium Trust Bank, which is now your government bank to the extent that the new loan you wanted to take from a consortium of banks, will be paid through Premium Trust Bank, the development which did not go down well with the banks and its allies.
“They therefore withdrew and pulled out from the deal. The Delta State government now approached the Delta State House of Assembly again for a fresh loan approval of #120B, and this time around, Premium Trust Bank will be the lead lender. What is unclear is that; is the #120B loan is in addition to previous #250B approved by the House or a fresh one?
“Meanwhile, I have decided to concentrate on the misuse of about N250Billion 13% derivation fund which you collected from the Federal Government and corruptly misused by your Administration for the purpose of which the fund was made available for.
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