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.
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
- See more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/delta-2015-will-win-gov-polls-otega/#sthash.mKmJDhej.dpuf
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