***says Aladja/Ogbe-ijaw conflict thrives because of PDP's wickedness
Deputy Senate President and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta State, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has assured that an APC-led federal government will work with the incoming APC State government to dredge the Escravos bar, and grant ships unencumbered access to Warri, Koko and Burutu ports.
He gave the assurance in Koko, Warri North Local Government Area, Monday, December 18, while addressing members and supporters of the APC during the party's ongoing ward to ward campaign.
He asked the Itsekiri people to vote their son in-law, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as President, and himself as governor of Delta State, "so that with concerted efforts between Tinubu and I, we would bring the much needed development to this land, starting by making Koko, Burutu and Warri ports work again."
The APC guber candidate made a strong case for Joel Onowakpo Thomas, the party's senatorial candidate for Delta South, as well as other candidates of the APC, whom he described as adherents that would give APC the needed support at various levels of government.
Senator Omo-Agege at the event demanded that former Delta governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, apologises to the Itsekiri nation over his near criminal neglect of his native Warri North local government area both as Secretary to the State Government for four years and Governor for a further eight years.
He accused Dr. Uduaghan of conniving with other Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, leaders such as it's Senatorial candidate, Michael Diden, aka "Ejele", to hoodwink them into supporting Okowa and his stooge, PDP gubernatorial candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori, in spite of the obvious sufferings of the Itsekiri people
"This is Delta State, in 2015 and 2019, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa came to this place asking for your votes and promising to bring prosperity to all Deltans. He failed woefully.
"In connivance with Speaker Oborevwori, Okowa has collected over 3.5 trillion naira as FAAC and 13 percent derivation revenues; and another 270 billion naira as 13 percent refunds. He has borrowed an additional 400 billion naira, yet, there is no development project worth 200 million naira in Koko".
According to him, almost all projects on the ground in the town were influenced by Dr Alex Ideh, a foremost APC leader, when he served as Commissioner under former Governor James Onanefe Ibori.
"This is Uduaghan's local government area. He was SSG for four years and had the power to influence development projects. He was governor for eight years but see his local government. He disappointed his own people, and now he wants to join forces with Okowa to further punish them.
"My late grandfather, the Nana of Koko, was, in the words of the curator of the Nana Museum which I influenced to Koko, the governor of Benin River. By God's grace, I am going to be governor of Delta State and I am going to be a good governor. I promise that the Koko/Ugbenu Road that was abandoned by Uduaghan and Okowa will be fixed. The Koko stadium project which started in 2008 and was abandoned by Okowa and Uduaghan your son will be completed by me, also your son, as governor.
"I commit that I will put a hospital in Warri North that will take care of the health needs of the people. Given the level of contribution to the State economy, I commit to site a State owned tetiary institutions each in Ijaw and Itsekiri lands. It is your right. You were denied by Uduaghan and Okowa, but I will restore them to you."
He admonished the people not to fear "Ejele" on election day. "I, Ovie Omo-Agege, the Deputy President of the Senate, will ensure adequate security to protect you as you come out to cast your votes," he said.
Earlier on, Dr Ideh lamented the level of infrastructure decay of Koko and called for total support of APC candidates during the elections.
In his remarks, Olorogun O'tega Emerhor, founding leader of the APC in Delta State, charged the Itsekiri people to mobilize Deltans to vote Tinubu and Omo-Agege being their in-law and kinsman respectively.
According to him, the Itsekiri nation has never had it so good, with the APC presidential candidate, an accomplished politician, as their in-law, and the APC governorship candidate as a grandson of the Nana of Koko.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Meanwhile, Senator Omo-Agege has ascribed the festering Aladja/ Ogbe-Ijaw conflict in Delta state to official wickedness of the Okowa/PDP government. Speaking when the campaign touched down in Ogbe-Ijaw, he said the Urhobos and Ijaws of the Niger Delta are one and the same people, and that the state government was, by divide and rule, benefiting from an unnecessary conflict.
He pledged to move with dispatch to resolve the issues that sustain what he described as a quarrel among brothers, while pleading with all parties to cease further hostilities.
Senator Omo-Agege's running mate, the youthful Rt. Hon Friday Osanebi, told the Ijaw and Itsekiri people at the rallies that the ruling PDP has obviously become the opposition party in the state, given the massive acceptance the people have shown APC.
In a statement titled "We Will Not Abandon You Like They Did," he said: "You have openly showed us that your hearts, minds and most importantly your votes are with all candidates of the APC and this we appreciate."
