Rita Enemuru, Reporting
Immediate past governor of Delta state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has said he did not jettison his aspiration for the Red Chamber for a Delta South senatorial aspirant, but due to “election fatigue”.
He stated this at the 2022 press week of the NUJ Warri Correspondents’ Chapel Lectures/Award ceremony at the Casa de Pedro Hotels, Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta state.
Uduaghan explained that he never picked up a form for the Senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but while he was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said “I indicated interest to contest, but at no time did I collect form in the PDP. I only collected in the APC. At no time did I step down. I only stepped aside because of election fatigue”.
According to him, having contested series of elections, he decided to take a bow in elective politics.
Speaking on the topic “2023 Elections and Role of the Media,” the ex-governor joined the recent calls for traditional rulers to be given constitutional roles in governance, stating that with such “power, authority and recognition” insecurity challenges will be curbed to a large extent.
“I feel very sad that we have not given our traditional rulers the special role they should play. I say this because a lot of cases are settled in the palaces.
“Traditional rulership must deal on dictatorship. They should be given the power, authority, recognition to play more roles in the society. I am sure if that is done all these challenges in our society will be reduced,” Uduaghan stated.
He added that by 2023 Nigeria would have enjoyed a 24-year “unbroken democracy,” noting the media has in the period “enjoyed a lot of freedom, unlike in the military”.