Two lawmakers in Delta State have drawn a battle line over claims of attracting road projects.
The immediate past Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, who represented the Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency and the Majority Leader of the Delta State House of Assembly, Emeka Nwaobi, representing Aniocha North, are at each other’s throats.
Nwaobi’s Media Support Group, led by Patrick Ochei had, in an article, claimed that the Issele-Asagba/Otulu road project was attracted by its principal and further alleged that the contract was awarded to Elumelu.
Reacting to the claim and allegation, Elumelu’s Media Office labelled the article misleading, stating that the road project was attracted by their boss.
“It is indeed shocking that the Nwaobi Media Support Group could go public to lie and hit up the polity by falsely claiming that the project was attracted by Hon. Engr. Emeka Nwaobi, even when it is clear as boldly written on the project signpost that the project was attracted by Hon Elumelu.
“More inexcusable is that the Nwaobi Media Support Group went ahead to mischievously claim that the contract for the road was, according to it, “allegedly” awarded to Hon. Elumelu, even when the name of the contractor, Diamond Leeds Limited, is also boldly written on the project Signpost.
“The Ndudi Elumelu Media Office believes that this is not a mix-up but a deliberate attempt not only to claim credit and appropriate the efforts of Hon Ndudi Elumelu in attracting the project and numerous others to our people but also to create confusion by falsely naming Hon. Elumelu as the project contractor.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Hon. Elumelu and not Engr. Emeka Nwaobi attracted the project. The project contractor is Diamond Leeds Limited. These facts are boldly written on the project Signboard.
“We are aware of the effort made by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu in ensuring the inclusion of the construction of Issele-Asagba-Otulu road, a link road that crisscrosses two local government areas, Aniocha North and Aniocha South, within Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency, in NDDC 2019/2020 budget.
“Unfortunately, the contract was not awarded, until recently when he met with the current Governor of Delta State and drew His Excellency’s attention to the urgent need for the construction of the said road. He graciously listened to him and gave approval for the contract to be awarded, having been included in the State Budget.
“While we recognize the desire by the Nwaobi Media Support Group to shore up the image and performance rating of their Principal, we strongly condemn this resort to lies, falsehood, false claims and deliberate distortion in a failed attempt to score cheap political points.
”We strongly counsel the Nwaobi Media Support Group to go search for projects attracted by their Principal and desist from spreading falsehood and attempting to claim projects attracted by Rt. Hon Elumelu.
“We demand that the Nwaobi Media Support Group immediately pulls down their disingenuous article within seven days and apologize to Rt. Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, as their action is not only embarrassing but also actionable” the group stated.
Former Reps, Elumelu, Majority Leader trade words over road project
