Immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Wednesday, declared that he is retiring from politics as the 2023 general elections approach.

He also canvassed constitutional roles for traditional rulers in the country.

Uduaghan bared his mind at the 2023 Press Week of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Warri Correspondents’ Chapel lectures/award ceremony held at the Casa de Pedro Hotels, Effurun in the Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State.

The former governor, however, stated that he did not jettison his aspiration for the Senate but stopped due to “election fatigue”.

He explained that he never picked up the nomination forms for the Senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party but while he was a member of the All Progressives Congress.

He said, “I indicated interest to contest, but at no time did I collect from in the PDP. I only collected in the APC. At no time did I step down, I only stepped aside because of election fatigue”.

But he concluded that having contested a series of elections, he had decided to take a bow from elective politics.

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Uduaghan, while speaking on the topic: ‘2023 Elections and Role of the Media,’ noted that by 2023, Nigeria would have enjoyed 24-year unbroken democracy, adding that the media has during the period enjoyed a lot of freedom, unlike under the military.

He, however, charged media practitioners in Nigeria to be more objective in their reportage since, according to him, media projections are at times far from reality.

He also challenged media owners to be faithful to their workers by paying them as and when due to guard against being influenced negatively by corrupt politicians.

Uduaghan associated himself with the calls for traditional rulers to be given constitutional roles in governance in Nigeria saying that “with such power, authority and recognition, insecurity challenges will be curbed to a large extent across the nation”.

Also, a former Minister of State for Education, Chief Kenneth Gbagi, emphasized the need to frontally tackle the insecurity across Nigeria.