Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa has listed loyalty, versatility, administrative capacity and team playing spirit of Patrick Ukah in the discharge of his duty, saying that those attributes also convinced him the more to obey God’s prompting and appoint him to the new position of Secretary to State Government (SSG).
Okowa had told the mammoth crowd that gathered at St Mulumba College, Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state that he did not just appoint Ukah as SSG on his own but by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
“When state executive council (exco) was recently dissolved and my family started praying as we do in time of taking certain decisions, Ukah’s name kept coming to my mind for the position of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). The more I tried to fight it out the more the name kept coming.
We handed the matter over to God and it was clear that God was speaking to me,” the governor said.
The governor urged the SSG who was the immediate past commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education and former commissioner for Information in the state, to continue to uphold those attributes that have distinguished him.
Okowa was speaking at the civic reception organised in honour of Ukah by the people of Okpanam Community and Oshimili North Local Government Area.
The governor lauded the people of Okpanam and the entire Oshimili North for organising a befitting civic reception for the SSG.
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He disclosed that the best the people of Okpanam could do for Ukah was to ensure that they continued to maintain peace and unity in the community.
While giving all glory and honour to God for making it possible for his administration to do the much it had done in Okpanam and Oshimili North and the state, Okowa assured that the government would remain focused in trying to do the best it could for Deltans.
In his response, the SSG expressed profound appreciation to the people of Okpanam and Oshimili North for the honour done him through the civic reception organised for him.
He disclosed that he never dreamt of becoming a member of the state exco when he started his political career, adding that it was God Almighty who made it possible for him to be elevated politically by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
Ukah expressed appreciation to Governor Okowa for the opportunity given to him to serve the state, stressing that he was eternally grateful to the governor for inspiring him politically.
According to him, Governor Okowa has liberated Okpanam and Oshimili North in terms of infrastructural development, adding that he had breathed life into the Okpanam community.
“The day Okowa quits politics is the day that l will quit politics. Okowa is my mentor; he is a team player and a bridge builder. From the depth of my heart, I want to thank you, Your Excellency, for all that you have done for me, Okpanam Community and Oshimili North,” Ukah said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Ugoani of Okpanam, HRM Michael Ogbolu, said the last six years of Okowa’s administration in the state had witnessed the phenomenal and massive deployment of resources to the development of the three senatorial districts of the state.
According to him, Okowa had turned Okpanam Community from rural to urban community, pointing out that since the creation of the state, no Okpanam man or woman had ever been appointed into the State Executive Council.
He thanked Governor Okowa for the appointment given to one of his subjects, Patrick Ukah. He assured the governor of the sustained support of the people of Okpanam beyond 2023.
At the event, the State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kingsley Esiso received some members of other political parties including the APC in Oshimili North into the PDP.
Some of the decampees said the performance of the PDP made them join the party.
