Says only Atiku Presidency would restore hope to the people

Insists Delta APC members are blind to reason and development

Governor of Delta and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, on Friday flayed the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state for its negative criticism, saying it was high time they shut up.

Okowa urged Nigerians not to lose hope even in the midst of difficulties, assuring that the Atiku Abubakar PDP Presidency would rebuild the country and restore hope to the people.

Okowa stated this while signing the 2023 Appropriation Bill of N571.6 billion at Government House, Asaba.

He said that members of APC in the state were either blind to the numerous projects and human capital development in the state or they refused to acknowledge his administration’s performance for obvious political reasons.

According to the Governor, this administration has constructed and linked communities with over 2,000 kilometres of roads and thousands of line drainages across the three senatorial districts in the state.

He said that the bridge being built across Ewu River would on completion connect 11 abandoned communities in part of Delta Central.

“For those making very funny comments, it shows that they are not even prepared to come into governance because governance is not all about building bridges and roads, it’s about developing the people with the provision of needed infrastructure.

“There are so many things to speak about and I think it is time for the APC in this state to shut up their mouth. It is not enough to bring in a few poles of street lights that may not last more than three months and you call that development.

“They just drop a few poles in some communities and use it to campaign and make a lot of noise about it. It shows clearly that they don’t care for the people.

“It is very very unfortunate and it is not the right way to go and I can tell you that we are proud of the bridge we are constructing across the Ewu River in Ughelli South and it’s going to connect 11 communities to the rest of the world.

“The fact is there is still a lot to be done in this state and there are lots of other bridges that are ongoing and we do not make noise about them because that is what we were elected to do,” he said.

Okowa said that his administration had trained several youths and women and had empowered them with starter packs, adding that “we have continued to mentor them and they have continued to impact on the economy of the state.

“We are proud of the work we have done and we couldn’t have achieved all that without the cooperation of Deltans and the House of Assembly.

“We will remain eternally grateful to the people of Delta and the House of Assembly, and with my Deputy Governor, we remain entirely grateful to all those who have worked with us even for the cooperation of the judiciary.

“We will continue to take steps to fulfill the promises we made to our people even as we have delivered on several projects even in the riverine areas and its something that we are proud to talk about.

“We have revamped our schools to good functionality even as we have built and delivered three model technical colleges which had since commenced academic studies at Asaba, Effurun and Obiaruku.

“We upgraded three institutions to universities and they have continued to contribute to more access to university education for Deltans and Nigerians as over 5,000 students were admitted in the first year and over 6,000 are expected to be admitted in the second year.”

The governor added that his administration had invested heavily on developing infrastructure and had touched many lives across the state without making noise about it.

“Today we have a very functional Secretariat that we are proud of and the workers are happy doing their work in a comfortable office environment.

“We have continued to be the pride of the nation in terms of development of a functional health insurance scheme for our people, particularly for those in the vulnerable group and children under five as well as pregnant women and the elderly.

“I believe that as we return for the elections that the people will appreciate what we have done because we have developed small villages to liveable towns.

“We have not touched all the villages but we have started it because those people are part of Delta and Nigeria and therefore they deserve good amenities.

“The Ogheye Market has been completed and it’s a good sight to behold at night and we will inaugurate it soon. What about the Utonlila and Oboghoro communities that we rebuilt after they were destroyed in the crisis of the past?

“We feel proud that we have been able to touch the lives of the people,” he said.

Okowa urged Nigerians not to lose hope even in the midst of difficulties, assuring that the PDP would rebuild the country and restore hope to the people.

He said that as citizens of the country had continued to struggle to eke out a living, it appeared that hope was waning, and urged them to look in the right direction to recreate the nation of their dreams.

“As the country struggles, our people are beginning to lose hope. But, I believe very strongly that there is hope on the way. We need to look in the right direction to begin to recreate the Nigeria of our dream.

“We are in the pathway to refocusing this country, to deliver to our people the dividends of democracy. We are in the pathway to ensure that our people can again have hope.

“I want to urge the youths of this country that we must choose right. Let us not be deceived once again; let’s not be carried away by social media reports; we should look deeply and be able to make assessments and make the right choices.

“Make informed choices based on the past of people, else we can be led on the wrong path, because promises were made in the past in 2015 and we believed that we needed a change without looking at those promises to see if they were doable. And, we got ourselves where we are today.

“Here we are again in an election period and time to make choices. Think deeply – our youths, women and elders – it’s time to look at the programmes of people, not the ones that are hurriedly made but the ones that have been carefully put in place.

“I know and believe that if we think deeply, we will see that among the lot, it is only one ticket that can truly turn Nigeria around, and that is the Atiku/Okowa ticket.

“I thank all others who are in the race but deep in their hearts, they know that we have a balanced ticket in the PDP and that is the best way to go,” he said.