For what looks like fear of been fired, the Delta State House of Assembly new speaker, Mr. Peter Onwusanya, has on behalf of the House disowned the controversial government land owned by the House. That land which was allegedly grabbed by Mrs. Sheila Roli Uduaghan, wife of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, is where she is currently erecting a gigantic multi-billion naira private school.
For what looks like fear of been fired, the Delta State House of Assembly new speaker, Mr. Peter Onwusanya, has on behalf of the House disowned the controversial government land owned by the House. That land which was allegedly grabbed by Mrs. Sheila Roli Uduaghan, wife of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, is where she is currently erecting a gigantic multi-billion naira private school.
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Several sources in Delta state had accused the acclaimed “born again” Mrs. Sheila Roli Uduaghan, of using public funds to build a gigantic multi-billion naira private school on the government land, which originally belonged to the State House of Assembly for its proposed police station and a clinic. Yet, the First Lady grabbed the land without any atom of remorse.
According to our sources, including senior civil servants in the state, Mrs. Uduaghan’s school project, which comprises a nursery, primary, secondary and theological schools, is expected to open in September 2014.
When asked on Thursday to give clarification on the controversial land during a press conference to mark the 3rd anniversary of the 5th Assembly of the Delta State House of Assembly, the new speaker, as a way of protecting his new job, is believed to have publicly disowned the land to the shock of his colleagues, when he said that the house “cannot confirm if the land belongs to them,” and he added that the issue of the land belongs to the government.
The speaker however, stated that such questions should be directed at the Ministry of Land, Survey and Urban Development. In his own words, “They say that there was a property, or there is a property owned by the Delta House of Assembly, that cannot be confirmed by this house, because the issue of land belonging to the government falls under the committee of Land and Survey. They are the appropriate quarter to get (an answer to) this information you seek. “
Reacting to the speaker’s comment, some members of the House said to SaharaReporters that the land, in fact, belongs to the House. The land, and which (body of government owns it) cannot be disputed, and they described the speaker’s action as “unfortunate,” and centers on his fear of the unknown.
“It’s not a hidden matter. Just ask workers in the Assembly, they will tell you the truth, that the land is ours. But because of the powers that be, the governor’s wife grabbed the land from the house with force,” one of the lawmakers had stated.
Also reacting to the speaker’s weak response to a question posed to him, a top management staff of the House, who carpeted the speaker, insisted to a SaharaReporters correspondent, “Don’t mind the speaker, he is afraid of been fired by those who made him a speaker. The land belongs to the Assembly. It would have been a different case, assuming the land in question is located elsewhere, but you can see with your two eyes, that the land sharing (is) a common boundary with the Assembly.
“The land was proposed for the building of a police station, and a clinic, but it was forcefully grabbed by the governor’s wife. In the beginning, the issue generated some silent resentment, (and a) scuffle between the leadership of the house and the governor’s wife. Well we are happy, since the speaker was bold enough to only to recognize that the land belongs to the government, and that shows actually, that the land belongs to the house. But to protect his new office, the speaker had no option but to disown the land.”
When questioned on the project some months ago, the state information Commissioner, Mr. Chike Ogeah, who is also protecting his job, had tactically dodged the question of the land dispute, and refused to mention the true owner of the project, and merely said, “Actually the project is a private one, and my duty is not to monitor individual private projects, but rather, government projects.”
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