By OLA KEHINDE-BALOGUN
Outgoing governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has pledged his readiness to be a viable watchdog, even as his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains in opposition to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the incoming political dispensation.
He promised to poke about, raise and draw attention to issues that the APC might not want to listen to.
He made the declaration in Lagos at the weekend during the presentation of Sam Omatseye’s book entitled: ‘Delta Beyond Oil: A Legacy of Sustainable Development’, organised by the Institute of Directors, Nigeria.
Uduaghan, who said he had his doubts over APC for not taking certain right steps, agreed that it might be too early to judge the incoming administration, which would assume power on May 29.
His words: “To create prosperity, APC must work hard to double the national growth rate and hence double the size of Nigeria’s economy at a shorter time. Otherwise, Nigerians are going to show the party the door in 2019
“So far, I do not think they are taking the right steps. They have jettisoned zoning. They are sounding unsure of themselves about how to manage the economy. APC is obviously worried about weight of public expectations it raised from the propaganda it fed Nigerians. The party is obviously trying to distance itself from the promises it made, which under current situation is impossible to fulfil.”
The governor identified some of the current hard situations to include how about 30 states and the Federal Government were not able to fund recurrent expenditure, such as payment of salaries, saying some of them had to borrow money to pay for such expenses.
Describing the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product of $522.64 billion, which represented 0.84 per cent of global economy as quite small, Uduaghan urged the incoming government to double the size of Nigerian economy.
He stated that it would take about 11 years to accomplish going by the current growth rate of 6.08 per cent.
“My point is that a combination of low wage economy, low growth rate, high unemployment, high population growth rate, is a recipe for disaster. This is the problem the APC will have to contend with. The situation is not helped by the falling prices of crude oil. Between June 2014 and March 2015, prices of crude oil declined by about 40 per cent.”
The governor acknowledged that the PDP made some mistakes that would be corrected very soon, and re-affirmed the party’s readiness to constitute a conscience of the nation in the next administration, by being a viable opposition.
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