Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secrets Reporters
In what appears to be a looting conduit, data in possession of SecretsReporters have shown that at least three successive Delta State Governments have splashed over half a billion Naira on the construction of a swimming pool in Oghara, a town located in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.
According to the data, the Governments of former Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan, Ifeanyi Okowa, and the incumbent governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, have allocated an accumulated amount of N613,366,961.21 for the construction of a swimming pool in Oghara.
It could be seen from successive budget details that the governors had, in their various administrations, allocated millions of Naira for the same project.
In the 2024 appropriation bill, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori budgeted a hundred million Naira (100,000,000) for the construction of a swimming pool in Oghara, a place where he had his primary and secondary school education.
The budget did not state where the swimming pool will be situated in Oghara. However, indices point to the Oghara Township Stadium.
A glance at the 2023 budget revealed that the immediate past governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, followed the footsteps of his predecessor, Uduaghan, in the allocation of funds for the ‘construction’ of a swimming pool in Oghara.
According to details buried in last year’s budget, Okowa, who was highly criticized for his flamboyant spending and loans, earmarked fifty million Naira for the ‘construction’ of swimming in Oghara.
There are no concrete reports of how this money was spent, especially since Oghara cannot boast of a functional swimming pool to justify the money earmarked for the project.
It could be recalled that in 2011, the Delta State Government, under the leadership of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, approved the construction of a modern Olympic Swimming Pool at Oghara in Ethiope East Local Government Area of the State at the contract sum of N463, 366,961.21.
The then State Commissioner for Information, Chike Ogeah, disclosed this while briefing the press at the end of the state Executive Council meeting in Asaba. Ogeah said that the initiative was in line with the 3-point agenda of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration.
This online media gathered that there is a swimming pool in Oghara Township Stadium, but it is not working.
A lecturer who is a resident of Oghara who spoke to our reporter on the condition of anonymity said, “There is a swimming pool in Oghara Township Stadium, but it is not functioning.” When asked when it was constructed, he said, “I don’t know”.
It is unclear why the Sheriff administration earmarked funds for the ‘construction’ of a swimming pool in Oghara. In this place, former governors Uduaghan and Okowa splashed millions of Naira on the same project.
