The Delta State Government has denied and distanced itself from news circulating in the media regarding a report which claimed the state Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa was defrauded of $10 million belonging to the state by his mistress.
According to the state government, the report which was published in The Nation Newspaper on Saturday, January 28, 2017 has no iota o truth in it as the state governor was neither under the radar of the EFCC nor did he lose the said amount.
In a statement released by the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah on behalf of the government, the state government stressed that the public should discard the falsehood
The statement said: “We are appalled by the attempt to link Governor Okowa with the story by online media. We find it ridiculously tasteless and mischievous. This can only be part of the unrelenting campaign of calumny and the ceaseless peddling of pernicious propaganda against the person and the office of the Delta State Governor.
“For the record, the state government has several times in the past given account of how the bailout the state got from the Federal Government was used. We will not repeat ourselves here.
“Governor Okowa is a responsible family man and a well respected public figure.
“His preoccupation has been and continues to be how to deliver on his promised S.M.A.R.T agenda to the good people of Delta State since he came to office. And he has received applause and commendations from far and near for being so focused and unrelenting in the pursuit of his vision for the state.”
Further in the statement, Ukah warned that if “those who are bent on carrying out their devious and dubious campaign of calumny against the governor refuse to stop this infamous trade of theirs, we reserve the right to take any action deemed appropriate to seek redress.”