Vanguard For Transparent Leadership And Democracy (VATLAD) has disagreed with the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Delta State over its allegation that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori inflated the cost of construction of three flyovers in Effurun near Warri to the tune of N50 billion.
Engr Igbini Emmanuel, President, VATLAD, stated in a press release that he was unable to see any cogent and verifiable proof from the APC to buttress these serious allegations of fraud it made against Governor Oborovweri.
He said the condemnation and allegations are also misplaced and politics taken too far in the retrogressive direction, adding that the inability of the party to make cogent and variable proof against Governor Oborovweri is to discredit the laudable effort by the governor which majority of people of Delta State have been celebrating and thanking the governor for.
According to him, APC did not make any reference to the approved BEME for these projects, “From my knowledge as an Engineer and with my experience in construction of roads, flyovers, bridges and other related road projects, only detailed and careful analysis of the Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation (BEME) approved for such projects marched with the actual site evaluation for the projects, can tell whether or not there is any element of inflation of cost or attempt to defraud citizens.
“Secondly, all projects are not exactly the same and therefore not expected to cost the same amount. There are variations even though within similar environments like Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states of the South-South geopolitical zone, there should not be wide variations among these states particularly if the projects are handled by the same company, in this case, Julius Berger.
“Thirdly, the Delta State APC did not show any evidence of how Governor Sheriff Oborovweri had planned to use an internationally reputable company like Julius Berger Company to defraud Deltans of a huge sum of money to the tune of fifty billion naira.
“Fourthly, the Delta State APC did not make any attempt to first commend Governor Oborovweri for breaking what had appeared to be a jinx in Delta State Government where no previous Delta State Governor ever contracted Julius Berger to construct roads, drainages, bridges and flyovers in Delta State. “
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