TheCable

Ovie Omo-Agege, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta, says the people of the state will punish Ifeanyi Okowa, the incumbent governor, for betraying the south.

Okowa played a key role in assembling southern governors for a meeting that took place in Asaba, the capital of Delta, on July 5, 2022.

At the meeting, the governors agreed that the next president must be a southerner. The agreement and other resolutions made at the meeting have come to be known as the ‘Asaba accord’.

Speaking on Thursday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Omo-Agege said “Delta is ripe for the taking” from the PDP.

“It is the position of Deltans and most especially, indeed entire southern Nigeria, that given the fact that we have supported Mr president, Muhammadu Buhari, for the past eight years, it’s only fair, just and equitable that the next president should come from southern Nigeria,” he said.

“And it may also interest you that Okowa as the chairman of the governors’ forum in south-south was one of those who led this charge, and met in Asaba, where the case was made.

“So to the chagrin and disappointment of many at home, Okowa betrayed that cause by selling away our right to the presidency, and instead going for the office of a vice president at a time when the entire country is offering us the presidency.

“So our people are not taking this treachery kindly and are determined to punish Okowa.”

‘DELTA NOT A PDP STATE’

Omo-Agege, who is the deputy senate president, said nothing tangible has been done by the Delta governor in his eight years in office.

He said the APC will take advantage of the governor’s “misgovernance” to take over the state in the forthcoming governorship election.

“That is a very serious misconception to tag Delta state, as a PDP state. Delta is very ripe for the taking,” he said.

“We’re determined to achieve this, we’ve been going around each local government, ward by ward, making the case, drawing the attention of the people of the state to the misgovernance and lack of performance on the part of not just Okowa but the PDP led administration in the past 14 years.

“The message to people is resonating and we’ve been able to make the case to them that Delta state is supposedly a very, very rich state. And indeed a very rich state given the contributions that we (the APC government) have made, not only to the economy of this country but also to the economy of the state.

“This is because of the receipts we have gotten from federal allocation, inclusive of a 13 percent derivation and other resources that come to the state by way of internally generated revenue. And this came, like I said, by way of federal allocation. It came by way of 13 percent derivation, and also about N400 billion that the state has borrowed.”

Olisa Ifeajika, chief press secretary to Okowa, had recently said his principal did not betray his compatriots on the Asaba accord.

He said when members of the forum returned to their various parties, decisions varied as each political party had different plans to approach the process of electing a presidential candidate.