2023: Okowa will hand over to a tested, trusted successor -Oghenesivbe

…Berates groups screening Guber aspirants

Executive Assistant to Delta State Government on Communications, Chief (Barr) Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, has reiterated that Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, will at the end of his tenure hand over governance of the state to a tested and trusted successor.

He stated this while speaking to newsmen in Asaba, after receiving the 2021 Most Outstanding Media and Communication Strategist Award bestowed on him on Thursday by the Editorial Board of Frontline News Magazine.

Oghenesivbe, who is also the Rotary Club of Asaba Central “Distinguished Service Award” recipient, further asserted that Okowa knows the game of politics inside out, fraternises with “who is who” in the political system, and therefore cannot afford to make electioneering decisions that will truncate the progress recorded so far in all sectors of the state economy.

The Executive Assistant noted that Okowa’s laudable performance in office had to a large extent redeemed the obvious lack of confidence people hitherto have for political actors and elected representatives, adding that the next administration must of a necessity work very hard to sustain and surpass the laudable achievements of Okowa administration by being prudent, visionary, firm, focused, courageous while the governor must be a servant leader, not a pharaoh.

He said political lobby groups in the state ought to have restricted their efforts to lobbying other groups and political leaders, saying that screening of aspirants was clearly ultra-vice their powers, the process cannot be transparent and fair, because invested selfish interests of stakeholders in the groups must far override the common good of Deltans.

“Governor Okowa has laid a solid foundation for responsible leadership in Delta State. He blocked financial leakages and deployed state resources for the common good of all Deltans.

“He knows who is who because he is a well-grounded politician, and cannot, therefore, be coerced or caged by any recommended list of aspirants as a remote-controlled guide to determine his choice of a successor.

“Governor Okowa will leave Government House Asaba in safe hands at the end of his legacy tenure, on May 29, 2023.

“I commend the lobby groups for their tremendous efforts, but they ought to have terminated their involvements after lobby tour of the three senatorial districts.

“Pruning and screening cannot and will never be transparent and fair because the groups’ major stakeholders have vested interests which cannot be denied. The recent uproars and rejection of the results of a screening committee in the state attest to this undisputed fact,” Oghenesivbe said.

He thanked the editorial board and management of Frontline News Magazine for the special award bestowed on him and promise to sustain the tempo of political communication and media strategy for the betterment of society and advancement of constitutional democracy in Nigeria.