The Delta State chapters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), are at each others jugular over a partial renovation work at the Warri City stadium embarked upon by Master’s Place International Church, Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.

It was reported that the church carried out renovation work at the stadium in preparation for its crusade which was held this last Sunday.

APC, leveraging on the development, in a statement signed by its Director of Publicity, Dr Wilson Odafe Omene, while appreciating Pastors Korede and Esther Komaiya of the Master’s Place International Church, Effurun, for the work done at the stadium, took a swipe at the Delta State Government, saying that the church giving the stadium a facelift was as a result of the failure of the state government.

Omene claimed that the stadium was in a disrepair state because the management of sports infrastructure of the state, was put in the hands of the younger brother of the governor whom they claimed neither have ‘passion for sport, expertise in sports nor known as someone who excelled in sports administration, anywhere or at any time.’

"Our party notes the impressive work the church has embarked upon at the long-abandoned stadium in the heart of the Oil City, even as we applaud the Body of Christ for stepping in where the deceitful administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has woefully failed.

"We cannot help but note that this is clearly a case of the church stepping in to fill a wide void, huge lacuna and gaping hole in governance on the part of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP-led Okowa administration’, APC said in its statement.

Responding, PDP in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Dr Ifeanyi Osuoza, chided the Delta APC for reportedly indulgencing in deliberate falsehood and dishonest practice as a ‘hopeless opposition party’.

Disclosing that the church actually rented the stadium and paid the normal N500,000 rent fee to secure permission from the State Sports Commission to use it for its crusade, Osuoza lampooned APC for failing to disclosed what led to the partial renovation work done on a portion of the stadium by the church.

Osuoza claimed that after the payment made by the church, “wind storm, a natural catastrophe came, blew off the roof, and destroyed a portion of the facility.

“The Church then went ahead to repair the portion affected by the wind storm” adding that ‘when the Chairman, Sports Commission learned of this, he directed a refund of the N500,000 earlier paid by the church as rent fee for the facility," he said.

Saying that the APC’s statement was laced with ‘falsehood’, Osuoza noted that the church could not have undertaken the repair of the entire stadium even as he said, ‘It only repaired the portion affected by the wind storm and got a refund of the payment made to the Sports Commission following the unfortunate wind storm that shattered the portion hired for the crusade.

He also dismissed as untrue claims that Mr Tonobok Okowa, a younger brother of the governor and the boss of the State’s Sports Commission was not an expert in sports administration, saying that under Tonobok’s watch, Team Delta won the National Youth Games five times out of six, won the National Sports Festival back to back in 2018 and 2021 respectively among others.

(Daily Sun)

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