223,000 Direct Jobs: Delta APC blast Okowa, says it’s disingenuous attempt at scoring cheap political points

…they are mostly political appointees, aides and Keke riders

By Unue Emeka,

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State has once again lambasted the government of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa over its claim of creating over 223,000 direct jobs in the State, describing the claims by the Governor as a disingenuous attempt at scoring cheap political points.

Recall that over the weekend, the State Governor Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Festus Agas, while presenting cheques, fertilizers and other agrochemical materials to farmers to enable them boost agricultural production in the State, stated that his administration has so far created over 223,000 direct jobs, 12,000 entrepreneurs and 1,300 indirect jobs in Delta State.

Reacting to the State Government claim, the Delta State APC Publicity Secretary, Ebata Onojeghuo Esq, while speaking to our correspondent at the Party’s State Secretariat in Asaba, lampooned the mendacious claims by the Delta State Government as a strong indication that the Okowa administration has lost touch with reality on ground in terms of the affairs of the State.

The APC scribe went on to state that, “as far as the APC is concerned, the claim of creating over 223,000 direct jobs is a product of the vivid imagination of the State Governor Dr Ifeanyi Okowa because as you are aware the only jobs that has been created by his administration, is the appointment of thousands of political aides and hirelings whose salaries runs into billions monthly and a huge drain on the lean resources of the State. This is election period; it is this type of political propaganda that you will be hearing from a government whose only achievement is the huge debt portfolio of the State”.

Continuing, the APC chieftain questioned the veracity of the State Governor’s claims, when he stated that, “Governor Okowa is being economical with the truth, because as you can see there is no single operational production factory in the entire State capable of employing such number of persons or is it the tricycle factory that the State government went into partnership with Stallion Group to established, that created the jobs? Because as you know, Delta State has now been dubbed the Keke capital of Nigeria”

The APC also described the State Government claims of creating 12, 000 entrepreneurs as rather laughable and incongruous giving the reality of the moribund economic activities of the State.

According to the APC Publicity Secretary, “I am sure that the 12,000 entrepreneurs the Governor is talking about is the numerous numbers of POS (point of sale) operators that are now rampart across the State”.

Mr. Ebata Onojeghuo, also deprecated the actions of the Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa government for its utter neglect of urban cities in the State even with the creation of the  Ministry of Urban Renewal, the Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency and the Warri and Environs Special Development Agency, to tackle the problems of slums in the State, “this is a government that used the campaign mantra of prosperity for all to easily deceived gullible Deltans, but as we speak, the people of Delta State have been left in abject poverty. Several years back, the Okowa administration set urban renewal development agencies for Warri and Asaba, but take a look at Warri, it is now a major slum. From oil city to Keke city, while Asaba is always flooded whenever there is a heavy downpour despite spending billions constructing structurally defective storm drains”.

The All Progressives Congress also admonished the State Government that the people of Delta State are now better informed of its failures, than to be easily swayed by such mundane claims that are aim to score cheap political advantage as a result of the forthcoming general elections in 2023.