Few days to the APC Presidential/ Gubernatorial flag-off campaign at the Warri Township stadium,news broke that Okowa’s handpicked Warri South Local Council Chairman, Dr Michael Tidi, had issued a rather curious order closing certain routes leading to the stadium for purported roads maintenance and repairs.
Despite these distractions, APC was undaunted and resolute with preparations as the opposition sought to destabilize and cause confusion among the teeming APC supporters.
At such short notice,the enthusiastic crowd that thronged the Warri Township stadium was a shocker to the PDP who wished the rally never held.
Curiously,this is the same government that refused to maintain the dilapidated stadium for more than seven years, abdicating its responsibilities to private organizations to carry out such functions.
The last time we checked, a certain church in Warri carried out major maintenance work on the stadium and even went on to tar adjoining roads that were in bad state of repair. In Warri, it is well known that since Okowa took over, the vibrant city died, and along with it, the Township Stadium and many other amenities.
Why are Okowa and PDP getting jittery after the highly successful flag-off at the Warri Township stadium? The reasons are not far fetched. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is increasingly gaining more mileage and his rising profile as the leading and unbeatable candidate in the 2023 governorship election is simply unsettling for the PDP fat cats. The PDP is living in denial and sheer arrogance but keenly aware that Deltans are tired of the shanigans of a party that has taken them for a ride for too long.
One Jackson Ekwugum who is the Manager, Communications, Government House, Asaba, wrote a childish article titled :” Ovie Omo-Agege and his crass vituperations,” where he attempted but failed woefully to denigrate the Deputy Senate President and Delta APC Gubernatorial candidate over his comments at the flag- off in Warri last week and at Asaba, a day before, where he (Omo-Agege) eloquently and brilliantly marshaled out his development blueprint for the state.
The likes of Ekwugum who are currently serving Okowa are only defending the indefensible failures and financial misdemeanours of their boss. All that Senator Omo-Agege said both in Warri and Asaba are in the public domain and no one is denying them either.
At the Warri Township Stadium, Senator Agege said Delta State is supposed to be the richest state in Nigeria but despite all the endowments and resources there is nothing to justify what is on ground. Where is the lie in that?
He lamented that Warri has become the headquarters of ‘Keke’ riders in Nigeria, noting that our people are tired of suffering in the midst of plenty.
Is this a lie?
He added that the bulk of the wealth of the nation is generated from this area but regretted that our people are still very poor as Okowa continues to take more loans. Again, where’s the lie?
Said he: “Today, Delta State is the second most indebted state in Nigeria. Today,all those who are alive and dead are all indebted because of Okowa’s penchant for borrowing.”
Alluding to the rally in Warri as a failed project is silly in the extreme. Those defending Governor Okowa for his massive financial malfeasance are not fooling anyone. Deltans know what has become of the Ughelli-Asaba Highway project and the Ayekoroma-Egbo-Ideh Bridge which has been reviewed and cancelled many times over by the Okowa administration without any appreciable progress.
Okowa’s failed projects are legion. Should we start from abandonment of his predecessor’s projects that litter the state or rising insecurity in form of pipeline vandalism, kidnapping and armed robbery incidents in the state
The rising debt burden as the second most indebted state in the country is gravely worrisome as is the gross inability to tackle frequent communal clashes especially that of Ogbe-Ijaw and Aladja communities which has defied solutions as his government appears incapacitated.
Another failure of this administration is the inability to manage the increasing huge wage bill occasioned by the unnecessary recruitment of thousands of aides into the already over bloated civil service.
For Ekwugum to claim that the emergence of Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori was a transparent process is laughable. If the process was transparent why the deep divisions and serial court cases challenging his eligibility?
Beyond transparency, the issue ab initio borders on the questionable credentials presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission. As a matter of fact, in saner climes, the likes of Oborovwori are not qualified to run for a councillor. But here we are, because we thrive in perfidy, Okowa wants to force him down our throats.
Senator Omo-Agege’s antecedents as Executive Assistant, later as Commissioner and SSG in the Ibori tenure were top notch, with an excellent track record of service. Now as the highest political office holder in the South South geopolitical zone, envy and display of sheer wickedness is expected, but to take the game to the gutters in the name of defense of Okowa is totally unacceptable.
For the records, oil producing states shared N450bn in 2021 as 13%derivation where Delta State alone, it’s ranking unchallenged,got a whopping N142bn. Half of that was expected to go to Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) but sadly we all know that the Owa-Alero landlord would rather do a giveaway pittance which will amount to nothing.
As we speak,the accounts of that agency have not been audited in the last ten years. It is but a huge conduit pipe to finance political campaigns having become a dumping ground for failed politicians with Sheriff-like educational profiles.
It has never been this bad.
Ovie Omo-Agege is obviously head and shoulders above the rest as far as this race is concerned.He is by far a better candidate than the area tout that prides himself as street boy who was a regular customer of the police when he held sway as a local thug. All Deltans know his shady past.
We will not respond to the one purportedly written by Dr Kingsley Emu which he has quickly denied but suffice to mention that all the respondents are all of the Ika stock who continue to suck the state dry without contributing anything meaningful to it. Since that unholy dynasty is about to crumble their desperation has doubled, as have their attacks on Omo-Agege.
The one by one Iwemdi Nwaham was another journey in futility, when he described Omo- Agege’s many impactful projects as phoney projects when everyone knows that the DSP has preformed more than those in the executive arm of government. From the Federal Polytechnic, Orogun, to the Delta State Campus of the Nigerian Law School, to power distribution interventions all across Delta Central, to the incoming University of Agriculture in Aboh amidst many major projects statewide, Omo-Agege has clearly outperformed the state government.
Attempts to denigrate his educational qualifications and experience in government only show that Nwaham and his co-travelers are just envious of his constantly rising profile.
That he studied Law at the University of Benin, and got a distinction in his masters in the United States are not in doubt.
And then,when was it a sin to be born with a silver spoon? We are proud of his heritage and what he is set to do for Deltans when elected as governor come 2023.
On the recurring mace issue at the National Assembly, DSP himself said at the Warri Township Stadium that he has no apology for opposing the impeachment of President Buhari at the time. It is a question of principle. He stood on the side of principle and his personal convictions. Let history be the ultimate judge.
If not for insanity, how can the said Nwaham attempt to denigrate Omo-Agege, who is a member in good standing of the State of California Bar. This is another evidence of the existence of a bout of madness and display of the highest level of political rascality.
Defending Okowa for being the running mate to Atiku Abubakar when we all know how Okowa bribed his way through using state resources after betraying the trust of the people of the Southern Nigeria is in the public domain. Such treachery is indefensible!
Rest assured, Senator Omo-Agege is a moving train and come 2023, the APC shall by the grace of God occupy Osadebe House.
NB: Ibru Nejuvie is an Asaba based journalist.
