Okowa To SERAP: Take Your Ultimatum To States Where Workers Salaries Are Not Paid

The Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Ikowa has rubbished the seven-day ultimatum issued him by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) ,urging the group to take its actions to states where salaries of workers are not paid as at when due ,thus stop the blackmail on the oil-rich state leaders.

Okowa described  the action by SERAP ,for the state  to provide information on details of the budgetary allocations and actual spending on primary school education in the oil-rich state as “nonsense and pure blackmail”

Recall that SERAP had issued Okowa a seven-day ultimatum to the state government ,while reacting to the video of Success Adegor, a pupil of Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1, Sapele, Delta State, who was dismissed from school for failure to pay her exam levy.

According to the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Charles Aniagwu, said Okowa told SaharaReporters that: “If SERAP wants to know what anybody is spending with respect to education, why are you going to wait for the story of Success to begin to make such demands? Why don’t you ask every state?

” I expect SERAP to go there and begin to demand for ultimatum so that we know that indeed they are very much interested in the development of this country and not playing to the gallery.”

“Why didn’t they give ultimatum to many other states where people are learning under the trees? Why don’t they give ultimatum to other places where they are not able to pay their teachers? In Delta, we not only pay our workers we also assist local governments to ensure that the teachers are well paid as at when due.

“There are 36 states of the federation. In these 36 states, the governors of these states and indeed the federal government budget for education of their different states and ministries of education.

” Let people ask of things for the purpose of developing Nigeria and we will move with them. We encourage anybody who is interested in what we are doing here.

” We don’t have anything to hide. Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa runs a very transparent government and the businesses we do here is on the basis of the transparency and if SERAP wants to know how transparency exist in the system, let them come to Delta but giving ultimatum as if they are the owners of the government in Delta state is not something that we are going to fall for. Nobody is going to blackmail us for cheap popularity.

“There are states in the federation where teachers are even paid half salaries. In some other states, they are owed more than six months.

When asked if the state government would respond to SERAP’s demands, he responded angrily, asking: “Respond to what?