The governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, stated that the state government held no objection to the ruling on local government autonomy made by the Supreme Court. He also reaffirmed his belief in the openness of the state’s local government elections, stating that it was a reflection of his own faith in democracy and due process.
Thank you for visiting The Vestigator, don't forget to share!
According to Oborevwori, the State Government has long backed the judiciary’s and legislature’s budgetary independence. Speaking with reporters soon after the results of the vote at Unit 33, Osubi Ward 6 in the Okpe Local Government Area of the state, Governor Oborevwori stated that the state supported local government autonomy, which is why he did not form Caretaker Committees for them when the immediate past chairmen’s terms came to an end.
“When I came in, I did not constitute transition committees here in Delta State because I am not in support of transition committees and the Heads of Personnel Management (HPMs) were in charge for three months to enable us conduct elections and, today, by the grace of God, we are having our elections and early next week, those who won would be sworn in.”
“The Supreme Court judgment has no effect here in Delta State because we don’t tamper with local government funds.”“As a former Speaker, we were in the forefront of the issue of autonomy for the legislature and the judiciary. So, that judgment does not affect us here in Delta State.”
“In the past, the State Government cleared monies owed by Local Governments in the state. JAAC (the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee) is just a monitoring process to ensure transparency,” Oborevwori added.
On the local government polls, the governor expressed joy in the transparent process, adding that the elections remained free and fair.
Governor Oborevwori said: “When we did the grand finale of our rally in Asaba, I said that we want free and fair elections and that is what we are doing now.”“I came through that same process of free and fair elections and with all the opposition, I won by a very wide margin.”“I have been up since monitoring the process and now I am here to cast my vote and having cast my vote, I am sure that the PDP will be victorious by the grace of God.”“This election is a litmus test for 2027 elections which will show whether we are doing well in line with our MORE Agenda or not. For now, we are not borrowing to execute any project. We are doing our best for Deltans and we will continue to do more in the coming years.”
Since local government chairs are the closest representatives of the people at the grassroots level, the governor urged them to maintain concentration and avoid distractions.
