Gov Okowa Says FG's Economy Crippled To Make Refund For Rehabilitation Of Federal Roads By State Govt

The Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has revealed that the Federal Government could not refund state government who embarked on the rehabilitation of federal roads because of the crippled economy.
The governor revealed this at a quarterly media interaction with journalists in the site capital, Asaba on Tuesday.
Okowa noted that he would have loved to embarked on rehabilitating federal roads in the state with federal government making refund. Adding that, the federal govt had told them (governors) that they can’t make such refunds.
He said “I do not think the federal government is in the financial position to take on all the roads. We cannot shy away from the fact that the economy of this country is not where it ought to be and therefore, we are facing challenges.
“Personally, I do not think there is any contradiction as the federal government has said it will not be making refunds.”
The governor however noted that his administration had embarked on some federal road rehabilitation within the state.
He said “actually, why we sort for clearance from the federal government before embarking on the road intervention is not because we were soliciting for refunds, but because when we tried same in 2017, we had issues with the federal government.”
Okowa also stressed that he would not impose any candidate on the state as his successor.
He said “I can have my personal view but I cannot enforce anyone as governor as it’s only God that knows who will become governor.
“I have the right to give my personal advise and my personal thought based on the rotational principle in the state but we when we get to that bridge, we will cross it.”