By Obas Esiedesa / Reporter, Abuja
Out-gone Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, has insisted that he was not sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan, saying he left the Federal Executive Council to pursue political ambition of becoming the governor of Delta State in 2015.
Orubebe, who spoke in Abuja during a handover ceremony to the Minister of State, Darius Ishaku, said it will be difficult for him to have continued to be a minister while at the same time embarking on his ambition.
“For you to make an omelet you have to break an egg and that is what I have done by resigning to pursue my ambition. I was not dropped, I resigned to go into the politics of Delta State”, he added.
While urging Nigerians to stick with the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, he said those who voted for the President in 2011 should also do so again because the President has good intentions for the country.
He paid tribute to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who made him a minister despite the strong opposition he received.
“I want to thank him and President Jonathan for giving me the opportunity to serve this country for seven years.
Nigeria’s politics must and should not be based of ethnicity but on the inner content of the office seeker.
“God has given me several opportunities and has reposed in me many talents and I want to go and use these for the service of my people in Delta State. I am eternally grateful to President Jonathan and his desire to see that Nigeria is placed at his rightful position”.
He noted that the East West Road project is making good progress and will be completed by the end of the year.
“People forget that road which we took over in 2009 had no drawings and design and in the first year only N1.2 billion was budgeted for it and the road will cost about N300 billion. The project has 42 bridges, measuring from 70m to 85m and over 1000 culverts. As I speak to you now 38 bridges had been completed and over 900 culverts constructed”.