Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan has denied walking out on the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and other top members of the party during the South-South Special Zonal Executive Committee meeting of the party that held Sunday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
“This is absolutely untrue… on arrival in Port Harcourt, Dr. Uduaghan had informed Alhaji Tukur of his desire to return to Asaba same day. Given that Asaba Airport closes to air traffic by 5pm, the Governor had sought the permission of the chairman to exit the meeting whenever it gets to the threshold of arriving Asaba Airport ahead of its closure to air traffic.
“Alhaji Tukur had graciously agreed to let Governor Uduaghan leave to enable him return to Asaba on time. When eventually it was time to leave for the return flight to Asaba, Dr. Uduaghan again notified the chairman who wished him a safe flight,” the governor said, in a statement signed by the Delta State Commissioner for Information, Chike Ogeah
Ogeah said that Governor Amaechi, as the host governor, had to see Dr. Uduaghan off. “At no time was there any disagreement to elicit a walk out by anybody. Alhaji Tukur had conducted the meeting in an atmosphere of candor and camaraderie and before Dr. Uduaghan left the meeting, all the parties present had addressed the meeting,” the commissioner further said.
Ogeah claimed that while speaking earlier at the meeting, Governor Uduaghan said whatever differences members of the party may have, they should come together in the interest of the party.
He also quoted Uduaghan as calling on the leadership of the PDP to endeavor to empower its members to engender greater commitment towards strengthening the party and that alongside providing requisite infrastructure and a clement environment for businesses to grow, the leadership should evolve measures to empower the party’s faithful.
He also said the governor had commended the leadership of the party, especially the National Chairman of the party, for his commitment to foster unity in the party, observing that the governors who emerged on the PDP platform in the South-South zone were delivering practical dividends of democracy to the people.
“Dr. Uduaghan noted that apart from the provision of infrastructure, it was also important for the electorate to be empowered, asserting that, ‘we are committed to ensuring that the PDP will continue to have its stronghold in the South-South’. The Governor of Delta State is a loyal member of the PDP and holds the office and person of the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Tukur in high esteem.
“We want to assume that the journalists who misrepresented the events may have genuinely misunderstood the early departure of Governor Uduaghan who was accompanied to the airport by Governor Amaechi.
“However, to have reached a serious conclusion as their reports did in stating that the two governors walked out of the meeting required more diligence. It is obvious that no official from any state could have suggested such interpretation to the press as no such thing happened.
“In effect, it is important that arm chair interpretations must be eschewed by the press in reporting events of national significance,” the commissioner said in the statement adding that the meeting was not strange since it was a normal practice to reconcile party members.
That statement described Governor Uduaghan as a leader that has distinguished himself in the exercise of democratic principles and who would never engage in acts that do not bind or unite people and groups.
The meeting, presided at by Alhaji Tukur, was meant to reconcile all aggrieved members of the party in the zone in preparation for the 2015 general elections in the country.
However, it was alleged that Governor Uduaghan and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state stormed out of the meeting in anger following what observers considered a provocative statement made by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom state. The two governors were said to have been accompanied by a lot of party faithfuls who had attended the event. It was also claimed that appeals by the National Chairman to stop the people from abandoning the meeting fell on deaf ears.
