Brickbats in Delta as APC, PDP kick off campaigns

The usual fireworks and brickbats that greet political activities of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have heightened in Delta State as the two parties kicked off their campaigns for the 2023 general election.

Ovie Omo-Agege, the deputy speaker of the Nigerian Senate who is also the Delta APC governorship candidate, set the current fire burning when he at the commissioning of the party’s state campaign council, recently, accused the PDP-led government under Ifeanyi Okowa’, of misruling the state for over seven years of the administration.

He seemed angered the more that Okowa wants to continue the misrule for more than four years, by working for the enthronement of Sheriff Oborevwori, the state House of Assembly speaker, as his successor.

So, he declared, “It is time for APC to take back the state from the ruling party. APC is the only party that can fight and take over power from the monster and cabal of the PDP ruling Delta State. We must take back our dear state from Governor Ifeanyi Okowa who with his cohorts, have held our state hostage and the task is not just for the party but for all Deltans, he declared..

“After over seven years of Okowa, one thing we all agree on is that there is a huge gap between the funds Delta State received, generated and borrowed; even recklessly, and what Okowa’s government has done. This has left our state seriously undermined in so many ways that are too numerous to count. Okowa misused and wasted our hard-earned resources. And when the state ran out of funds, he embarked on a reckless borrowing spree, thereby mortgaging our future and those of our unborn children.

“And now he (Okowa) wants to handover to his stooge, Speaker Sheriff Francis Oborevwori whose House which he heads, approved every kobo that was wasted and stolen to protect himself from accountability. For 5 years of Sheriff’s speakership, the Delta State House of Assembly has been a rubber stamp, giving everything Okowa asks for without effective oversight, thereby undermining the entire idea of the Separation of Powers enshrined in our Constitution as well as weakening our democracy.
“We all remember what happened to Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya when he dared to ask questions, when he tried to do his job and provide the checks and balances our Constitution demands. He was fired for trying to scrutinize executive actions as the legislature must do. And because power corrupts and absolutely power corrupts absolutely, we ended up with an uncontrolled state government that has since turned its back on the people of Delta State.”

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Omo-Agege alongside other bigwigs of APC in the state fired on and on and ended by charging the members of the council to ensure the victory of the party in all the electives offices upto the presidency. He told them to convince Deltans on why PDP should be voted out of power in the state.

According to him, “through his EDGE to BAND agenda, the APC would establish a strong resilient, inclusive and prosperous economy that generates opportunity, jobs and wealth, while lifting the poor out of poverty, through the implementation of people-oriented programmes and policies. Our vision is to make the State a model for others.”

Charles Aniagwu, the state information commissioner, at a press briefing, swiftly reacted to the allegations raised by Omo-Agege and said that the DSP would not have his way to power by lying to Delfans even as he said the APC guber candidate would not win a Local Government Area in the state because of the unfolding hardship the APC-led Federal Government has plunged Nigerians and the future generations into.

The Delta PDP Campaign Inauguration Council ceremony held in Asaba, Thursday, seemed to have also provided opportunity for Oborevwori to respond to Omo-Agege’s verbal attacks on him.

“All well-meaning Nigerians can agree with me that the current Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which Omo-Agege is the deputy Senate president is the worst in the history of this country, courtesy of it’s toothless, rubber-stamp senate as Nigeria’s external debts stood at $40 billion as at the second quarter of this year; with hyper-inflation, naira free fall, escalating food prices, widespread poverty, delapidated state of federal roads, labour discontent and general insecurity. Let Omo-Agege tell Deltans what these monies were used for.

“Omo-Agege’s tenure as Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG) was characterised with parochialism, greed and abuse of power and undemocratic tendencies, he said, adding that records are there for all to see what the erstwhile SSG did in just six months,” he said.

Sheriff Oborevwori, the PDP’s governisjp candidate in the state commended Governor Okowa for what he described as the governor’s political sagacity and adroit leadership skills which he had deployed in managing the affairs of the party since 2015.

He said the massive achievements of Governor Okowa had made campaigns easier for the party in the state.

“We have what it takes to convince our people (Deltans) that PDP remains their best option,” he asserted.

“You do not change a winning formula, hence my MORE Agenda geared towards consolidating the gains of the current administration. It is designed to continue and expand the infrastructural and human capital development of Okowa’s administration, Oborevwori said.

“The vision is to keep Delta State ahead in all aspects of social and economic wellbeing. “The MORE Agenda is Meaningful Development, Opportunity for all, Realistic Reforms, Enhanced Peace and Security to Deltans. My promise to Deltans is that I’ll listen more, achieve more and do more.

While commenting on his stewardship as the speaker of the 6th Delta State House of Assembly, Oborevwori said, “I’m proud of the job of the 6th Assembly working with the executive to implement it’s policies and programmes.

“There are some misguided people who think that the relationship between the legislature and the executive must be adversarial.
How mistaking!

“There must be working relationship between the two arms of government. The idea of checks and balances and separation powers is not for the legislature to become a clog in the wheel of progress of the state. Through dialogue, you harmonise your difference in a matured, matual and respectcul manner, to move the ship of the state forward. The result of my positive impact abound everywhere in Delta State.