April gov polls: No tenure extension in Delta state – Omo-Agege

By CHIOMA GABRIEL, DEPUTY EDITOR
Delta State appears to be heading towards legal battle occasioned by the recent pronouncement of a  Federal High Court, Abuja elongating the tenure of state governors who were made to undergo re-run election.

Omo-Agege

Ovie Omo-Agege is one of the gubernatorial candidates in the state. He is contesting on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria. He says there is no cause for alarm over the judgment since the law cannot take retroactive effect on Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the incumbent Governor. He spoke about his aspiration with Saturday Vanguard.

Why are  you contesting for Governor when you were supposed to be supporting your good friend Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan in moving the State forward?

Leadership is not about friendship. It is more of service delivery and functionality of the system.

It is about empowerment and creating the right atmosphere for people to pursue their legitimate aspirations and make life more rewarding and fulfilling. Agreed that the Governor is a friend but there are quite a number of things that I would do differently if I assume the leadership of the State.

I will have no justification or explanation to give anyone that the State is still crawling when it is supposed to be walking and running. We cannot allow such profligacy to continue while our people are suffering deprivations.

The State is blessed with abundant human and material resources that should ordinarily be a blessing on us but the mismanagement in the State is becoming unbearable. That is why I have chosen to hearken to the call of our people to give them representation. I am proud to say that I am out to serve my people.

But  Action Congress of Nigeria is new in Delta State and may not be able to withstand the strength of the PDP which has been the ruling Party in the State.

Well, the party may be new, but the structures are old and formidable enough to upstage the ruling Party, the PDP. Don’t forget that we were the foundation members of the PDP and for us to move out of the Party, then something must be wrong with the system.

At the Action Congress in the State, we have people contesting in all the available elective positions in the State. That is one way to measure whether we are on ground or not.

We have very credible candidates that would defeat the PDP in the State. People are fed up with the party that is why they move in droves. People are tired of deceit and dishonesty.

They are tired of non-performance and lack of basic dividends of democracy: water, housing, education, healthcare and infrastructure. People are truly fed up and they have decided to effect a positive change by calling on people like me, to come out and give them good leadership.

We have our support across the State. We dwell more on issues that could help the State and not the kind of propaganda that is being articulated and spread around by the government of the day in Delta. The Action Congress will defeat PDP in Delta simply because we will insist that the votes must count. We will defend our votes and make sure that those rigging methodology of the PDP is put to check.

You participated in the last rerun and you were defeated by Governor Uduaghan. What made you think you can upstage him this time, less than four months after that experience?

Some of us decided not to contest the outcome of that rerun election because we felt like preparing for the April elections, otherwise we would have challenged the outcome.

They used all manners of methods to rig the elections. They used thugs to snatch ballot boxes. All manners of methods were deployed. But thanks to INEC that was able to ensure that at least there was semblance of voting in some areas. That cannot happen again.

People are now more alert to those crude methods of rigging elections. People are now more conscious than ever before. PDP is no longer in the mainstream of politics in the State because people no longer trust them.

They have cheated the people severally and there is a groundswell of opinion to try other individuals in another Party that is where ACN becomes very useful and handy. Just wait for the elections and you will be shocked at the level that people will reject the PDP in the State.

The Federal High Court Abuja recently alongated the tenure of some governors who went through re-run elections. Where does that leave you and others running for elections?

Dr. Uduaghan cannot be a beneficiary because he was not a party to that case in the first place. And again, the timing is different. He was sworn-in on January 10 the same day that the new Constitution came into force. The law cannot take retroactive effect on Dr. Uduaghan.

I am aware that he is trying to file a case in the Federal High Court to ask for extension but don’t also forget that there are subsisting judgments that say rerun cannot be fresh particularly if it is won by the man who has continued to occupy that office illegally.

INEC will give its own interpretation, but I can assure you that there is no cause for alarm. And as you know, even in the states affected, INEC has appealed that judgement. So, the issue of tenure extension cannot fly.

What programmes do you have in mind in the event that you are voted into office?
Quite a number of people have been asking us this same question but I think what is very important is for one to have the ability to deliver on one’s campaign promises. You can line up a number of programmes before election and by the time you are voted in, you begin to look the other way.

That method has been the hallmark of the PDP in the State.

One thing I can assure the people of the State is that we will make use of the best brains to articulate a way forward for the State in the areas of education, healthcare delivery, infrastructural development, housing and rural electrification. All of these are now suffering in the State.

Delta State has no reason to be backward in these areas but the PDP government in the State has been paying lip service to the people. I will make sure that we collectively prioritize the demands and match promise with action. We will revisit the primary healthcare programme and make sure that people have access to basic healthcare service no matter how remote the location is.

We will make sure that every school age child is in school instead of allowing them to hawk goods on the streets and exposing them to danger. I will declare Operation Open Up Delta so that it can attract investments, local and foreign. Believe me, all that we need is just the understanding of the people, we will go places.

Are you comfortable with the security measures being put in place by the Federal Government to address youths restiveness in the Niger-Delta?

Well, that of the amnesty programme is commendable even though there is still a lot of fine-tuning to be done. But the whole idea is a welcome development at least to have a platform where issues of youth’s empowerment and employment could be tabled. That is the first stage.

The second one which I expect from government is to commence overhaul of the Niger-Delta region in the areas of infrastructural development, education, healthcare services and housing.

It is a huge challenge but it is doable. As a Governor, I will use Delta State as a prototype of what the Niger-Delta should look like. I will revamp the economy of the State and build infrastructure that would promote investment and create job opportunities.

Some of these anti-social behaviours are a fall-out of idle minds. When the youths do not see any future in their lives, the tendency is for them to take up arms and hold government to ransom.

The attraction these days is community policing which will be all encompassing without leaving it for government. The people have to buy into it and they must understand the need for collaboration. You don’t collect security votes for nothing without addressing security needs of the people. Transparency in government, accountability in transactions, openness in policy implementations and probity in service would be my approach.

Do you have any message for the people of Delta State?

My message is that of hope. That of trust. That of perseverance and resilience. They should be prepared to take their destinies in their own hands. We cannot afford to allow the State suffer all the deprivations that we are witnessing at this point in time.

We should be prepared to defend our votes so that the votes will count. I preach peace and not violence. I bring hope and not despair. And the good Lord will rescue Delta from the grip of bad leadership.

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