By Spence Okwagbaye,-Asaba
The recent allegation of operation of blank budget and misuse of the Paris Club Refund levelled against the Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa by a former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Cairo Ojougbo has been described by a group as self-serving and unpatriotic.
The group which styled itself as ‘Legacy Group’ while briefing the press in Asaba said they have taken time to investigate the controversy surrounding the deployment of the Paris Club Refund across States and found Delta state government to have done exceedingly well in the utilization of the said fund.
On the allegation of blank budget, the group which said they are a non-governmental political pressure group considered the stand of Dr. Ojougbo as unreasonable, unrealistic and unpatriotic.
Vice President/National leader of Legacy Group, Dr. Chris Okobah flanked by other executives during the briefing said “Apart from the fact that a Blank Budget cannot exist otherwise it is not a budget, every well-meaning person can attest to that the fact the Delta State 2017 budget was publicly presented in November 2016, passed in February 2017 and signed into Law in March 2017 as reported in the media”.
Dr. Chris who said the focus of the group is to monitor developments and evaluate legacies of leaders especially in Delta State also disclosed that the reason while Ojougbo does not see anything good in the administration of Dr. Okowa was because of the Governor’s refusal to accede to Ojougbo’s request to control Ika South Local Government Area in terms of elective and appointive offices.
It was as a result of this mindset, he said that has made Dr. Cairo Ojougbo to deliberately turned blind eyes to all the monumental achievements recorded so far by Okowa’s government.