The immediate past Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party PDP to the All Progressives Congress APC.
Dr. Uduaghan announced his defection through a statement he issued on Wednesday entitled ‘Moving On To The Bigger Playing Field’.
According to Dr. Uduaghan, the biggest challenge for leaders from the Niger Delta remained the peace, security and stability of the region which has been in turmoil since 1997.
Excerpts from Dr. Uduaghan’s defection speech read;
“For over 12 years, I was deeply involved in the management of the issues of the region, first as Secretary to State Government (SSG), and then as governor of Delta State for eight years.
Strategically, we had engagement as our major tool. This involved government officials, with me in the forefront (sometimes personally going into the creeks without security at nocturnal hours), community leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders, our youths, retired military officers, activists, etc.”
He also claimed that the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) was part of the engagement process embarked upon by his government during his time as Governor of Delta State.
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He further stated that he was attracted to the APC because of the way President Buhari was handling the issues of security in the Niger Delta. He further commended Buhari for engaging the stakeholders in the region just like he did when he was Governor rather than resort to the use of force as all other administrations had done.
This part of the statement could as well be construed as a subtle shade at former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was known to use brute force in crushing dissent in the region and Goodluck Jonathan who followed lightly in his footsteps.
According to Uduaghan, the approach to peace adopted by the APC led Federal Government has pointed in “a direction that is at once progressive and developmental.”
He continued further;
“Since the inception of the current All Progressives Congress (APC) administration at the federal level, there has been an encouraging interest and activities by President Muhammadu Buhari to bring a permanent solution to the Niger Delta crisis.
Topmost in these activities are the engagement processes. Rather than using the military to harass our people, the Buhari administration has embarked on various engagement processes that have led to agreements and brought hope to the people of the Niger Delta.”
Emmanuel Uduaghan is the second major political leader in the Niger Delta region to defect from the PDP to the APC after Godswill Akpabio, former Governor of Akwa-Ibom state.