WARRI — MINISTER of Niger Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe, said, yesterday, that his relationship with elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, who tongue-lashed him, last month, over his ambition to rule Delta State, was still friendly.
Orubebe, invited by traditional rulers of Ijaw extraction to a meeting in Warri, Delta State over the ceaseless attacks on him lately, told reporters after the close-door session, “Chief Clark is the leader of Ijaw people, he is a father and he will remain so, and our relationship is still cordial. We work together for the interest of the Ijaw people and the interest of the state.”
The minister said he will continue to support the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state and national levels and pledged his commitment to the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of the country.
He also threw his weight behind Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State in all his activities to see that “we have a better Delta State that will be the envy of other states.”
Speaking on the attacks against in him by critics, he said, “They have seen the false and nonsense things people have been writing in the papers, including writing false and stupid things to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. My traditional fathers were worried and they invited me to come and brief them.
“So, I came in here to have a meeting with them, to brief them, talk to them about how I have lived as a Minister and also to debunk those false allegations and stupid things they are talking about,” he said.
He said he was not ready to join issues with those who had been criticizing him on the pages of the newspapers, pointing out that his antecedents as councilor, local government chairman, adviser to the former governor of the state, state chairman of All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, and now as a Minister, were eloquent testimonies of his personality.
Orubebe said he was not bothered about what the people were saying about him, adding, “ I have come to discuss with them, I have finished with them and I am going back to Abuja to continue the work that I am doing to support Mr. President in his transformation agenda to transform the country.
“I do not want to talk about it. Well they remain my brothers and sisters. However, I feel sad that people who are supposed to know what is right and good, do not understand the constitution of PDP. I am moving forward and I will continue to support PDP in Delta State. I will continue to support the governor of this state in all his activities to see that we have a better state here in Delta State.”
He said that the promise of Mr. President to deliver the East-West Road by December 2014 remains sacrosanct, stressing that they were working round the clock to deliver on their promise.
Source: Vanguard