Uduaghan Dares Tompolo, Others Over Jonathan's Visit

Delta State governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has emphatically stressed that nothing will disturb President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s planned visit to the state on Friday.

The President is expected to visit Delta State on Friday to commission the $16 billion Ogidigben Export Processing Zone, EPZ, in Warri.

On Wednesday, former Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpomukpolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, along with some youths from Oporoza, in Gbaramatu kingdom, Delta State, warned Jonathan to stay away from the area, promising to unleash mayhem if he ignores them.

However, speaking with Vanguard, the state governor said “nobody can chase the President away from the state. According to him, “Delta State is our state.”

He added that, “Delta Gas City is a federal project that will benefit the entire Deltans and so, we are waiting for him to come and do the ground-breaking tomorrow (Friday).”

Some months ago, an attempt by President Jonathan to perform the same ceremony was frustrated due to disputes over the naming of the project.

But Uduaghan advised communities at loggerheads over the location of the project to maintain peace because “there is no need fighting for the crumbs when the bigger cake is coming.”

“The project is actually a Federal Government-driven project. It is not a state project. The intention is to harness the country’s abundant gas resources to realize its 2020 vision of becoming one of the 20 largest economies in the world,” he told Vanguard.

“But the special thing for me and Deltans is that Delta, the Finger of God, is the host state and the impact will reverberate all over the state and country. Delta State Government is partnering with the Federal Government and other investors.

“We have issued a Certificate of Occupancy for the 2,700 hectares site for the Gas Revolution Industrial City. There are lots more we are going to do as the project progresses.

“The Gas City is a greenfield development built around a major central gas processing facility that will produce pipeline gas from the domestic gas market, especially for power generation, and supply gas to an industrial complex within the Gas Revolution Industrial City that will include world-scale fertilizer and petrochemical plants.

“Actually, the wet gas is collected, dried and turned to dry gas. Like I said, with the gas city, there will be fertilizer and petrochemical plants and the agricultural sector will be transformed because a lot of fertilizer is required for agriculture.

“For the petrochemical, it involves a lot of production and so, the gas city is a very huge project. It is an integral part of the Nigeria Gas Master Plan, and will serve as a model for future development elsewhere in the country.

“The development is being managed by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, so you can see why I am excited. The whole idea is in consonance with our Delta-beyond-oil agenda,” he narrated.