BY SUNDAY EGEDE
Delta State Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, yesterday, disclosed that contractors in the state do not engage in lobbying for contracts because the state operates a transparent and merit-based contracts’ award procedures.
Aniagwu, while speaking during an interview with an Asaba-based Radio Station, said that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration prioritizes due process, ensuring that only qualified contractors secure projects based on their capabilities, rather than relying on political connections.
He said the approach fosters accountability and quality project delivery, while eliminating favouritism in award of contracts.
According to him, Governor Oborevwori has brought some level of prudence, fiscal discipline and prioritizing of the processes and projects of government, which has helped to cut off a number of what looks like leakages.
“In doing that, he is able to run with what we have and we are running very well, so not only that, he has not taken any loan but he is also able to make it that anybody we award any contract, we are giving as much as 40 per cent mobilization.
“This is because, we want those jobs to be done both hastily and efficiently; we don’t want to sacrifice any of the two; we don’t want to sacrifice speed and we don’t want to sacrifice quality. “So, if you have speed, you have quality you don’t need to even lobby anybody, we will give you a job, Oborevwori administration does not believe that you must come and lobby anybody to get a job.
“Just show that you have the capacity once you do the first one and you are able to do it right be rest assured that even before you know, you get the second one.
“In all of these, we are looking at the quality and we are looking at the price. So, when we say that we want to be able to give value for money to the great people of Delta, that is what it speaks to. “So, it is a good thing that we are not on that challenge of borrowing and even at that, he has also been able to repay largely existing loans that we may have secured in the past,” Aniagwu added.
He said Governor Oborevwori’s approach to governance was yielding massive results in the development of the state, adding that the approach to governance determines what result you get. “The approach, the people who are working with you, and then even if another governor comes in tomorrow, that governor is certainly also going to have his own different approach. “People also learn from others, you take advantage of the knowledge, which is what they call experience, of how others possibly governed, the challenges they passed through and then you now work to make it better because you have that knowledge.
“So, when a new government comes, it comes with a different approach. Oborevwori’s approach is giving us the result that we are talking about. Other persons in the time past had their own approach.
“The next person that will also come after Oborevwori will also come from an approach that will speak to the fact that he may have also learnt lessons from how we are doing it now.
“So that at the end of the day, if there are little errors which you cannot rule out, the person is able to deal with those errors and work better if indeed the person is focused on doing things better. “It is a prayer in Africa, and I want to believe even in Western world, that our children will be greater than us. And so, one thing that you must give to Senator IfeanyiOkowa is the fact that what Nigeria lacked, which is the issue of leadership recruitment, he was able to pass by leading us to support a man who is making this difference.
“In many places, that is not the case. Today, we have a governor that is not only sustaining the development trajectory in the state, but is also able to take steps to add more value.
“You can see what is happening in the Warri, Uvwie, Udu axis, and a number of areas, you can see the speed with which we are working on the Ughelli-Asaba Expressway.
“It is a very good thing that we have a governor who is taking steps to see how he can do more and surpass the record of his predecessor.
“That is what we call advancement, once you have one person, a successor, trying to build and do more than the predecessor, then development is taking place.
“So, right now, I can comfortably say that development is taking place in Delta and we are all better for it,” the Commissioner stated. Speaking further, Aniagwu said Governor Oborevwori has delivered on lots of his campaign promises for Deltans in less than two years in office.
“The promises made by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori vis-a-vis the fulfillment of those promises are very well codified not by way of law but by way of some form of an agenda if you like call it a manifesto and he termed it MORE Agenda.
“That more means that he is going to do more than what he met on ground, he is going to listen more and execute more projects, he is going to do things differently.
“That more stands for meaningful development ensuring that his projects are meaningful to the needs of the people; it also means opportunities for all that means every person irrespective of your religious or tribal inclination is going to have opportunity of benefiting from his policies and programmes.
