Delta 2015: Why I will win gov polls — O'tega

9 years ago

Delta 2015: Why I will win gov polls — O'tega

GOVENORSHIP candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor in this interview, punctured speculations that his candidacy is largely tied to the Urhobo Progress Union,UPU, noting that his mission is pan-Deltan. He is also confident of emerging victorious in the governorship election.

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

On comments that his support base is largely hinged on the UPU than the APC, and whether the development will not hurt his chances considering the multi-ethnic nature of the state
I will not deny my Delta Central Senatorial District identity. It is natural for the ethnic nationalities that make up the state to have interest on who becomes the governor. There are two types of interests. This interest is responsible for the reason given by the Anioma for wanting to produce the governor. Delta Central will also give you their argument for wanting to produce the governor. The Isoko have also adduced their position regarding the deputy governorship slot. That is the right they exercise. The APC is a collection of a sizeable number of all the tribes in the state. It is the prerogative of the UPU, as the umbrella body of the Urhobo, to support me. I will accept that but it will not stop me from approaching other tribes because I will sell my programmes to every Deltan.

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I am not going to emerge as an Urhobo governor but the governor of all Deltans. My responsibility will be for the entire state. The Anioma has also endorsed but that will not turn me into an Anioma governor. We will take these issues along as we strive to emerge victorious. But I will encourage that we look beyond the issue of ethnicity because those are normal cultural instincts. Today the major issue in Delta State is how to bring about real development and the people want to change that.

Delta State is known to be a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Do you have what it takes to face the party at the election?
The mission of APC generally is to build a new direction in this country. It is to build a formidable alternative political party such that Nigerians can have a choice.

That is what is being practised in so many other countries like the United States of America where there are two strong parties.

That is what is in this country today. As you can testify, Nigerians are beginning to ask questions about the direction the country is headed to. They are also questions on whether we should continue with the kind of stagnation we have had in the past 16 years. There are suggestions that we try a new direction that promises a better deal for the uplifting of this country. It is this same question that we face in Delta State. I came from a business background. I am known to be a turnaround expert.

On comments that he is jittery over the emergence of the PDP candidate Okowa is not going to offer anything new. He is a product of the establishment. And he displayed that by picking his deputy from the same establishment. His deputy is related to a major agitator in the Niger Delta region.

If you look at the linkage, you will discover that it is the same establishment. I represent the new vision in Delta State. I come from a private sector background. I am here to sell the new vision of APC in Delta State. And the mission is to involve the electorate and every one that is unhappy with the current state of things.

The focus is to galvanise them and create development and progress. Delta State is a multi ethnic state. You need to be able to carry all the tribes along. We need somebody who has the ability to bring all the people together and tap from the diversity in the state. That is part of the plans that I have.

I will put together a representative government that can move the state forward. Delta is blessed with a lot of resources and we also get a lot of revenue in terms of allocation from the Federal Government.

If you evaluate what is on ground today in the 16 years of PDP leadership, you will come to the conclusion that our resources have not been well utilised to impact fruitfully on the economy of the state.

Indices of development are very clear about what I am saying. We still have a large indices of unemployment in Delta State. Our youths are still roaming the streets without future.

Majority of the youths are commercial motor cyclists while others still engage in thuggery. There is also a huge deficit of infrastructure, the situation could have been better. The major roads connecting the cities are either under construction or not constructed. Things cannot continue this way. We must make a deliberate effort to ensure that infrastructure is provided to allow the state improve its economic activities. Without infrastructure, economic activities cannot progress. The health and education sector have deficit in terms of facilities and motivation of players.

The public sector is now a ghost of itself because the facilities for teaching are lacking, while the physical structures are uninhabitable. I do concede that some structures have been constructed in some places but there is a lot to be done. In the health sector, most of our public hospitals are unequipped and such situation cannot offer the best health care delivery.
That has forced people to resort to private sector health facilities. We have put together a 10-point agenda to tackle these challenges.
What are the new strategies that you are likely to introduce into the governance of the state if elected governor?

We are going tackle unemployment as it relates to the youths and every stakeholder. In my first 100 days, I will put together a scheme that will be targeted at empowering these three sets of people. I am going to establish a N10 billion fund and call it the empowerment fund.
I intend to put in place access points for this fund. These points will be in the various local government areas as disbursement and training centres. We will target youths, women and middle tier businesses.

This will support people with ideas in realising their dreams. I will also work with the local government areas. Presently, the local government areas are experiencing deficit of funding in Delta, that makes them more distant from the people. Most of the funding they get today goes straight to pay for recurrent expenditure making them lack the strength for current expenditure. They don’t do enough in improving the lives of those at the grassroots. We will ensure a better service delivery at the local government level. We will show interest in the infrastructure that will be developed and completed at the local government areas. We will make government participatory by expanding the space so as to meet the aspirations of every Deltan. There will be employment for a minimum of one million youths within the shortest time. These will be a trigger that will have a multiplier effect on the direction of economic activities in the state. When we succeed in doing this, Delta State will be a reference point in the country.
On the chances of APC

The chances of victory have never been as good and potentially possible as it is today for the APC. The fact that there is an urge by Nigerians at the national level for a new direction, is also reflecting in Delta State politics. There is a groundswell urge in this direction. Deltans are very committed to see that the situation that exists today does not continue. Everywhere we go, the support for us is overwhelming.
On fresh ideas

I contested for the governorship of Delta State on the platform of the PDP. I found out that the space was conscripted and that there was no room for fresh ideas. That made me to leave the party because we need a platform that will encourage new ideas. We also worked with the opposition, although we won the election but the results did not reflect the will of the people. Most of the elections then, were practically rigged. When the APC was coming together, we the opposition in Delta State knew that it was going to be a major national movement. And we decided to collapse our structures into the APC. In 2013 there was an opportunity presented by the unfortunate death of the senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District in the Senate. I participated in that rerun election on the platform of the APC. As some of you may be aware, that election was militarised and eventually rigged