Money Meant To Develop Delta State Is Now Lavished On Governor Okowa’s Vice Presidential Bid – Omo-Agege Kicks

Ovie Omo-Agege, the Delta State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and deputy senate president, has slammed Ifeanyi Okowa.

Omo-Agege accused Okowa, the state governor, of “swallowing” over N2.8 trillion received in seven years to develop the state.

Omo-Agege, the senator representing Delta Central in the national Assembly, made the accusation Thursday during a press conference in Asaba to unveil his governorship manifesto, while describing the Okowa-led Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) administration as a failure.

The APC candidate lamented that while other states in the Niger Delta and elsewhere were celebrating shiny milestones in infrastructural and human capacity development, the people of Delta State were dumbfounded by the audacity of Okowa and his co-travellers as they daily brought the state to its knees.

He said, “Even sadder is fact that the governor has been going around borrowing with reckless abandon, making the state one of the most indebted in Nigeria even with its monumental FAAC allocation and 13% derivation revenue as an oil producing state.

"Okowa’s government alone has swallowed up well over N2.8trillion in seven years. We are all Deltans here. Do you see anything on ground that is commensurate with that receipt? Delta State deserves better. We must reject leaders who will not be independent of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the cabal that brought us to this sorry pass. For Deltans to get out of these problems and return to a path of economic prosperity, there must be change that offers progress beyond mere promises. With my record of public service, my candidacy represents and offers that change.

"If you make an objective assessment of every village, town, city, and local government area in Delta State, including the riverine areas, you will come to the sad conclusion that the state is lagging behind in every index of socio-economic development and economic prosperity. There is poverty and profound infrastructural dilapidation from Asaba to Warri and environs, Ughelli to Udu, Sapele to Effurun, Koko to Oghara, Agbor to Ukwani, Ndokwa to Abraka, and other areas of the State. The PDP government has abandoned the riverine areas of the state to their own devices.

"When compared to other states in the Niger Delta with similar FAAC and IGR revenues, Delta is beset by poor or nonexistent infrastructure. Even the few projects that exist are poorly executed. The net effect is that the state looks like a giant junkyard. Most of the roads and structures purportedly executed by the Okowa government in the last seven years have failed and, in many instances, outrightly collapsed. Many such failed projects that litter the state are being recycled and re-awarded to cronies without a visionary and credible plan for sustainable infrastructural development.

"Today, there are strong reasons to believe that monies meant for the development of Delta State are now being channelled to fund the ill fated ambition of Governor Okowa to become Vice-President of Nigeria in 2023 by every means. Just go around the state. The poverty and frustration inflicted by this government on Deltans over the years are palpable and scary. Insecurity, low quality projects, lack of vision to revive the economy of the State, misplaced priorities in governance, corruption, nepotism, government waste, incompetence, and lack of accountability are pervasive and profound."