By Tochukwu Eluwa-Delta

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Delta State Chapter has berated the economic policies of the Delta State Government under the leadership of Gov.Ifeanyi Okowa. This position was made available to AFNEWS and signed by APC publicity secretary of Delta state Sylvester Imonina, Esq.

The opposition party in the state said ” after a thorough analysis and juxtaposition of the huge amount of revenue accruing to the State as compared to that of other States, has come to the irresistible conclusion that visible economic development of Delta State will continue to remain a mirage for as long as we continue to have the kind of bad governance that we presently have in Delta State”,

The Delta APC said information at their disposal as sourced from Econometrics, Economic Confidential Magazine and other reliable sources is to the effect that the Government of Delta State under the leadership of Sen. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa got a little above the sum of #214.4B as Federal allocation (FAAC) and almost #65B as internally generated revenue for the year 2019 but Unfortunately, the bad economic policy of “chop I chop” of the State Government have continued to deprive Deltans something as simple as the minimum economic viability standard required from a responsible and responsive government that has received in its coffers such a huge amount.

The party further said , Lagos State Federal allocations was #143.9B for the year 2019. Rivers State had #154.5B. Kaduna State Federal allocation for the year 2019 was #66.9B and its IGR was #44B. While Edo State Federal allocations was #66.5B and its IGR was #26Billion. In the year 2019, the economic viability of Lagos State was 147%, Ogun State was 77%, Rivers State 64%, Kaduna State 35%, Enugu State 34%, Edo State and Anambra State were 27% respectively. Unfortunately, Delta State with its huge allocation had abysmal economic viability of 23%.

Delta APC stated that on a daily basis, Deltans are confronted, harassed and fed with baseless economic policies of the State Government that has no impact on their lives while political thugs and economic vampires who ordinarily have no business with governance are rewarded with political appointments with humongous salaries thereby clogging the economic growth and well-being of Deltans.On the other hand, thugs in the State who are unable to secure Government appointments are on the Streets harrasing, and disturbing private developers and private business owners, struggling to earn a living and survive the economic crunch/woes foisted on them by the Government. As a result of same, companies/business owners are moving out of the State in droves on a daily basis.

On television, radio Stations, and the social media space that is populated by political hirelings, Deltans are inundated with false information on job creation and developmental projects that are not factual. The good thing is that Deltans are abreast of the fact that the infinitesimal jobs purportedly created are only given to unemployable and “political hallelujah boys” who can barely add value. This despicable attitude is reinforced by the fact that recently, jobs purportedly given out were done through Party affiliation. That is, the purported jobs were given out through PDP Party leaders and other political channels, thereby frustrating those who genuinely have the intention of contributing their quota to the growth of the State’s economy,the statement reads.

Considering the volume of monies that enters the State coffers, the question begging for answer is; What milestone/legacy project(s) did the State Government achieve with these huge allocations? Where are these monies actually going to?We want to emphasize that companies are relocating out of the State due to the low buying power of Deltans. The State economy has become peasantry. Modernization and job creation is near zero. Our production and/ or manufacturing capacity is nothing to talk about.We continue to wonder whether those in charge of the governance of the State have any conscience at all! Do they sleep well in the face of the economic woes and sufferings that ordinary Deltans go through on a daily basis?Delta APC as the mouthpiece of the downtrodden knows that a day of reckoning is coming in no distant time for those whose interest is to pauperise Deltans except they change for the better,the APC said.