I’ve executed more projects in Delta Central as Senator than Gov. Okowa -Omo-Agege

Delta State APC Governorship Candidate for the March 25, 2023 election and Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has said that he has executed more infrastructural projects and touched the lives of more people in Delta Central Senatorial District than the incumbent Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has done in the past seven and half years.

Omo-Agege who disclosed this in Warri where he held a Town Hall interactive meeting with the leadership of ECWA Christian block, used the occasion to assure the people that if they vote for him to become the next governor of the State, he will not only run an all-inclusive Government, but will also consult regularly and carry the church along.

While attesting to the fact that as a Senator, he has used his influence to attract over 300 critical life-touching projects to Delta Central Senatorial district, Omo-Agege said that there is virtually nothing on ground done by Gov. Okowa to better the lot of Deltans in spite of the over N3 trillion that has come into the state as revenue since 2015.

Omo-Agege expressed more worries over the recent revelation by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike, that President Buhari graciously approved the release of outstanding deductions from the 13% derivation fund to all the oil-producing Niger Delta governors, for which Gov. Okowa received a whooping N260 billion but failed to disclose it to Deltans.

The Deputy President of Senate averred that the attitude of Gov. Okowa as it relates to the 13% refund, coupled with the fact that he has, over the past few years, took loans totalling over N400 billions with no commensurate development, is indicative of bad and fraudulent government.

He noted that the state and its citizens were deliberately pauperized by Governor Okowa and assisted by the instrumentality of the State House of Assembly, led by Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, a situation which has called for urgent intervention and deliverance of the State from their evil grip of the duo.

Omo-Agege therefore urged Deltans to send him by voting massively for him to redeem the State from the iron grip of Okowa and Sheriff, adding that he would turn things around by what he would do differently.

“Okowa and Sheriff may not be bad personally, but their priorities are not right. It is a matter of judgment. The judgment which Okowa and Sheriff have executed is a bad judgment.

“And so, we are saying that we want to move Delta State in a different direction. How do we do that? First, we sat down with the best brain we could assemble in Delta State. And we identified four critical areas that are more problematic with Deltans. And we christened those four areas in our manifesto as EDGE Agenda – Employment and Empowerment, Development, Good Governance and Enduring Peace and Security”, he noted.

Expatiating on Employment and Empowerment, Omo-Agege pledged to create an enabling environment that will attract back companies that relocated away from the state sometime ago, adding that “they will begin to create jobs for our people.”

Responding to questions during the interactive session on the moribund Warri, Koko and Burutu ports, Omo-Agege promised to work in synergy with expected President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the Federal government to dredge the Warri port and bury deeper the oil pipelines under the river to allow bigger vessels to land in the port.

“We have decided that we can approach our in-coming president by the grace of God, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is of the same party with us, to help bury deeper those pipelines and make the Warri port, the Koko port and Burutu ports functional again to create jobs for our people”, he assured.

Omo-Agege therefore urged the people to vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President and himself as governor, for a better synergy to make the ports become functional once again.

“Therefore we need Tinubu to help us to dredge the Escravos Bar and also help to sink deeper the pipelines to allow bigger vessels to come to Warri, Koko and Burutu ports and there will be jobs for our children”, he explained.

He also explained the Empowerment component of the EDGE Agenda to include the empowerment of women by way of providing government-guaranteed soft bank loans for those who are trained in various skill acquisitions, adding that he will attract investors to invest in youths who technologically-inclined to convert their ingenuity to positive development.

On Security, Omo-Agege promised that if voted for to become the next governor of the state, he would invest heavily in security architecture by way of introducing sophisticated technological devices that can track every where in the State in real time, adding that the system has proved very effective in the few states where it has been deployed.

When asked about the slow pace of work on the Amukpe-Uromi federal highway, Omo-Agege informed that out of the N400 billion hitherto frozen NDDC fund recently approved by President Buhari for release, about N15 billion will be used to mobilize the contractor back to site on that road while about N90 billion has been earmarked for the maintenance of the Warri-Benin highway.

On what will be the position of non-indigenes in his government, Omo-Agege disclosed that if he becomes the governor of the State next year, his administration will not entertain any form of discrimination, adding that he would place priority on the capacity and experience of those whom he would work with irrespective of their tribe and religion.

On what would be his approach to the resuscitation of agriculture, Omo-Agege assured that he will also get the banks involved in loan support for mechanized farming to be guaranteed by the State, adding that the state will also attempt to cushion the losses of farmers and provide enabling environment for agric value chain.

He reiterated his resolve not to probe his predecessors, adding that the votes for him to become the governor was for him to turn the fortune of the State around for good and move it in the right direction, but not to hold personal vendetta against past leaders.

Omo-Agege submitted that for the sake that he has a “legion” of enemies, when he becomes the next governor, he must strive to live above board.

Earlier, while introducing the APC Governorship Candidate, the Director-General of the Campaign Council, Elder Godsday Orubebe, noted that Omo-Agege was a God-fearing man whose passion for human welfare is unparalleled.

Quoting from the Bible book of Proverbs which says “when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn”, Orubebe stated that the APC Governorship candidate is going round the State because of the vision he has for the people, adding that he is poised to do things differently and usher in a new Delta State.

High point of the event was the prayers offered by the leaders of the ECWA block for the success of the APC and the Governorship candidate, Ovie Omo-Agege.