As Deltans writhe in pains and regret over the collapse of a section of the Stephen Keshi Township Stadium, Asaba, the Delta State capital Thursday, the Deputy President of Senate and Delta APC governorship candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has urged Deltans to hold Gov. Okowa accountable for the incident which was reported to have claimed three lives.
Reacting to the news of the incident, Omo-Agege who lamented the proliferation of shoddy projects in the State, blamed Gov. Okowa for engaging quack contractors to execute critical infrastructure especially roads, bridges and public buildings.
It would be recalled that this is not the first time a section of the stadium which the governor has committed billions of naira to construct in the past seven years, has collapsed. In February 2019, the electronic scoreboard at the Stadium collapsed as a result of a heavy wind few weeks after the sports facility was commissioned.
It would also be recalled a few years ago, in the same Stadium, an overhead water tank collapsed during a live sporting event and killed one person, much to the embarrassment of Deltans.
Earlier, a section of the 19.5 km Jesse-Boburuku Road in Ethiope West Local Government Area, Delta State, rehabilitated by Delta State Government, has caved in barely two months after inauguration, June 5, 2918
According to Senator Omo-Agege, the substandard quality of work being delivered by government-preferred contractors are a reflection of the governor’s level of lack of concern for the welfare of Deltans and the development of the State.
He stressed that lives of Deltans and other Nigerians in the state seem to have lost value under Okowa because of selfish and narrow considerations, ineptitude when engaging professionals, and even in the observation of safety measures at project sites and across the state.
He questioned if the State government under Okowa was meeting financial obligations to contractors, stating that non release of funds could be an additional cause of the shoddy jobs that litter the state, and which now endanger the lives of Deltans and others within the state.
He expressed sympathy to those impacted, not only in this case, but by Okowa’s shoddy project governance in the state, and prayed for quick recovery.
He assured that ugly incidents such as these will be a thing of the past as soon as he becomes governor of Delta State, and urged all Deltans to give the APC the needed support in the 2023 general election.
