- I’ll work with Omo-Agege to revamp Warri, Koko ports, Aladja Steel Company to tackle unemployment, underdevelopment in Delta – Tinubu
…says Delta coffers should not become ATM for migratory politicians
National leader and presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised Deltans when elected as President in 2023, he would revamp the maritime and solid minerals industry in the state to tackle unemployment and underdevelopment.
Addressing the mammoth that gathered Saturday at the Warri Township Stadium for the official APC Presidential and Governorship Elections Campaign Flag-Off in the state, Asiwaju Tinubu said he would deploy the Lagos template in Delta, noting that both States share similitude in maritime economy.
He charged the tumult to ensure they vote in the APC starting with the presidential and national assembly candidates and then the governorship and house of assembly candidates, at the state, to enable him to actualise envisaged promise to the state.
On the state economy, he said: “Delta is among Nigeria’s largest oil and gas producing states. Revenue from oil and gas has historically been the backbone of government revenue and foreign exchange earnings. As such your state and other oil producers have made one-of-a-kind financial contribution to the building of modern Nigeria. The nation is thankful to you. “Delta has all it takes to be great and help lead the nation forward. Yet, for the past twenty three years, those governing your state have taken you for a hard and long ride by selling you short. They have not done the things they should have and could have done for you. “The infrastructure in the state was better 30 years ago than it is now. The state has recorded historic debts run up by the incumbent yet the infrastructure and other things still remain lacking because of under investment and neglect, Tinubu stated. He took covert swipe on insinuations that Governor Okowa has continued to deploy the state's funds in bankrolling the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign.
“Money is much but it does not have legs. Where did it go? Not to your welfare. “Perhaps, it has found a home with a certain presidential candidate who loves Dubai more than Nigeria.
"But Delta State is not an ATM for migratory politicians. It is a place where good and hardworking people reside and work to create decent and peaceful lives for themselves and their families", he said. Tinubu promised to restart the gas revolution industrial park and supervise the cleaning of the entire Niger Delta and put stop to environmental hazards in the host communities as a result of oil exploitation.
Earlier in his speech, the Deputy Senate President and Delta APC Governorship Candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, relived his age-long political relationship with Senator Tinubu, dating back to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), stressing that his administration would do better under Asiwaju Tinubu’s Presidency.
He specifically requested the APC Presidential Candidate to accede to the Ijaws to make the Maritime University in the state as a full fledged federal institution, while making a strong case for the revamping of the Warri and Koko ports and the review the privatisation of the Delta Steel Company, Aladja.
Senator Omo-Agege pointed out how much Delta stands to leverage on the presidency of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as his wife, an Itsekiri, is an illustrious daughter of the state.
“So Delta stands to loose nothing from the ill-fated vice presidential ambition of Governor Okowa, with our daughter and sister, Senator Remi Tinubu as the incoming first lady”, DSP Omo-Agege intoned.
Also speaking, former governor of Edo state APC National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole shot salvo at Governor Okowa and other Niger Delta governors, while making allusion to Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike’s remarks at a political rally in Port-Harcourt.
“Wike made a confession today that there was some money not paid to Niger Delta states since 1999. But when President Buhari came, he approved the Money.
“The 13% deductions were paid to Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa. Wike said it will be unfair not to tell the public where he gets money from to do projects.
“The money is not from FAAC, but from the over 250 Billion Naira received from the accumulated derivations. You can ask Mr. Okowa what he did with Delta’s share of the money”, Oshiomhole, an erstwhile Labour leader queried rhetorically.