Protests against Governor Okowa’s political appointments are selfish, futile-Jalogho

A Warri based environmentalist and activist, Mr. Hosanna Jalogho-Williams says appointments made by the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, are purely within his prerogative and protests against the appointments are selfish and futile.

Mr. Jalogho, who spoke to newsmen in Warri, Thursday July 25, against the backdrop of protest by some Itsekiri youths against the nomination of Hon. (Barr) Daniel O. Mayuku to the Board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, stated that the nominee was eminently qualified for the position, haven been tested over these years as a ranking member of the Delta State House of Assembly and Chairman House Committee on Finance and Appropriation for reasonable number of years.

He disclosed that it was not true that the protest had the backing of the Warri Monarch as alleged and that nobody was penciled down for the position, saying, “nobody was earmarked for it. The protest was basically arranged and sponsored by somebody and some politicians. Their motive of doing so is for personal aggrandizement and that is the truth. The person so claimed to have been earmarked for the position is a Civil servant with DESOPADEC, who told me it was the boys who felt he should be given that position”.

According to the social critic, he should remain a Civil Servant and leave political offices to politicians and the governor being a politician knows how to balance the scale of power in the state in the interest of peace, justice and security, equity and fairness.

“The Executive Governor is the man who has the power to do and undo in the state. He has power to make laws that are peculiar to its immediate environment. So if the Governor makes a decision in his own state, it is because of the peculiarity of the state that is why he is taking certain decision. Don’t forget that the most important thing for him is the disbursement of funds, and to make sure that security is upheld and peace is ensured in the state. So he must try to balance the equation when he is doing anything. 

Anybody can come out to protest, people can be sponsored to say anything but the truth is that prerogative of powers lies on him”, he maintained.

He opined, “the governor cannot be accused of impunity and disregard for constitutional provisions, he is only exercising the prerogative vested in him as the helmsman of the state. And this is also purely a People’s Democratic Party, PDP, matter”.

He explained that he used to be the Chairman Education Committee, Chairman of the Screening Committee of Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality and therefore familiar with all documents pertaining to the movement and administration of DESOPADEC.

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