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Tag: Ovie Omo-Agege

  • APC, Tinubu, Omo-Agege and the voyage to nowhere – By Festus Okubor

    APC, Tinubu, Omo-Agege and the voyage to nowhere – By Festus Okubor

    By Festus Okubor

    The drums refused to sound. The trumpets are silent. The streets remain indifferent. There is no celebratory mood that anticipates such a visit. This telling description is the fate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT), visits Delta State.

    Perhaps, BAT has chosen the wrong time to fly and the wrong place to visit. The Delta State’s APC governorship candidate, the social media valourized Senator Ovie-Omo-Agege has also grown quiet in the last twenty-four hours. Apparently the futility of the APC, Tinubu and Omo-Agege’s voyage to nowhere is starring him in the face and robbed him of the capacity to talk. This situation has just predicted the woeful failure of the APC not just at the national level, but even more woefully in Delta State at the next general elections.

    It is disappointing that despite the monumental failure of the APC since it got into power through political subterfuge in 2015, its gang members who have subjected Nigeria to serial rape would still dare to want to contest elections. The APC came to power deploying dubiety and unconventional political strategies to hoodwink Nigerians. Eight years down the lane, what did the party offer Nigerians? They have bequeathed a legacy of “sorrow, tears and blood”. Nigeria is passing through her worst time in history.

    Nigerians are suffering from the collateral damage only an APC, Armoured Personnel Carrier, could inflict. Under the APC government Nigeria became one of the three most unsafe places in the world.

    Nigeria bears the burden of being a highly corrupt nation. Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. A new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigerians suffering multidimensional poverty are over 63%. But the world knows that the figure is above 80%. So, why do APCticians think that Nigerians would want to see them retain power come 2023?

    The APC mercilessly unhinged Nigeria and cannibalized the polity. The education and health sectors have packed up. The frequency of doctors and lecturers strike in Nigeria is the highest in the world.

    Nigeria no longer has roads. Electricity is zero. Inflation is rooftop. Our youths and labour force are migrating. Social unrests, especially ENDSARS, arising from bad governance brought the nation to her knees. Secessionist agitations are rampant. The nation is actually on life support. This is the reason why Nigerians built the consensus of “APC and the Voyage to Nowhere”.

    As the APCticians come to Delta State what would they point at as their achievements in the State? Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!!! All the federal roads in the State as in other states have collapsed. The only motorable roads in Delta State are the ones built by the PDP administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. The federal presence in education in the petroleum university and the maritime university is tellingly small and hugely embarrassing as both institutions are grossly starved of funds and personnel.

    The people still remember Nigeria’s glorious days when the PDP was in power. Nigerians look forward to a return of the PDP to power to redeem and redirect the country. The APC, Tinubu, Omo-Agege are on a voyage to nowhere. Nigerians have rejected them. Nigerians are yearning for the PDP via the Atiku/Okowa presidency.

    The APC quest for power is laced with desperation which comes from Tinubu’s and Omo-Agege’s sad and bitter awareness of their political albatross and heavy baggage. They have recruited hungry old men as media and social media boys to launder their image, but at best they remain as whited sepulcher.

    Tinubu has questions to answer regarding his educational background, his age, the lacuna in story of his wealth before he became governor, drugs, and what he did with and to Lagos. That his own Afenifere rejected him and endorsed another candidate is enough signal that he is on a voyage to nowhere.

    Omo-Agege is at best a social media creation who has not actually won any real election in his political life. His failed attempt to go to the House of Representatives in 2003, his governorship bids in 2006, 2011 (twice) and 2014, all failed woefully.

    His “winning” the senate election in 2015 was by happenstance riding on the back of Great Ogboru and judicial perversion. His “winning” in 2019 was a tradeoff resulting from his begging and groveling before certain PDP leaders.

    He is merely a political paper tiger. Mace rustling earned him the number two position in the senate, but Nigerians and Deltans see him as reprehensible. He is also very sectional and his aides call him behind his back as Orhomuru-Orogun senator. When he sponsored the electoral bill he did so in pretence thinking it would not see the light of day.

    When eventually the bill was on the verge of being passed he was the sole voice that opposed it. So much for being the initiator of an electoral bill!

    Since Omo-Agege began his campaign for his illusionary governorship he has found a new hobby of abusing Governor Okowa and the PDP. He neither has a workable manifesto nor an ideal vision. He has nothing convincing to say. He has adopted two negative pointers EDGE and BAND. Who thinks of pushing his state to the EDGE or plans offering his state to BANDits? That is Omo-Agege for you.

    The APC gang does not know history. They ought to know that Delta, Bendel and Midwest do not and will never align with the APC political genealogy. The APC is an offshoot of the AD, AC, ACN, UPN and the AG. The Midwest and Bendel abhorred those parties. The only time that Bendel narrowly went with the UPN was the disaster of 1979 to 1983. Our people do not want to go that route again.

    Tinubu prayed for the PDP the other day. He said “God bless PDP…” and the response of Deltans and Nigerians is a loud AMEN as the PDP takes over Nigeria in 2023 and continue as the ruling party in Delta State.

  • Okowa squandering Delta money on his VP ambition – Omo-Agege alleges

    Okowa squandering Delta money on his VP ambition – Omo-Agege alleges

    The Deputy Senate President and Delta State Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege, has alleged that Governor Okowa led administration squandered money meant to develope the state for his vice Presidential ambition.

    Omo-Agege who made this allegation during a World Press in Asaba to unveil his governorship manifesto, lamented that Okowa has squandered over N2.8 Trillion received in the last seven years with nothing to show for it.

    He said: “Even more saddening is the fact that the governor has been going around borrowing with reckless abandon, making the state one of the most indebted in Nigeria even with its monumental FAAC allocation and 13% derivation revenue as an oil producing state.

    “Okowa’s government alone has swallowed up well over N2.8trillion in seven years. We are all Deltans here. Do you see anything on ground that is commensurate with that receipt? Delta State deserves better. We must reject leaders who will not be independent of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the cabal that brought us to this sorry state.

    “For Deltans to get out of these problems and return to a path of economic prosperity, there must be change that offers progress beyond mere promises. With my record of public service, my candidacy represents and offers that change.

    “If you make an objective assessment of every village, town, city, and local government area in Delta State, including the riverine areas, you will come to the sad conclusion that the state is lagging behind in every index of socio-economic development and economic prosperity.

    ” There is poverty and profound infrastructural dilapidation from Asaba to Warri and environs, Ughelli to Udu, Sapele to Effurun, Koko to Oghara, Agbor to Ukwani, Ndokwa to Abraka, and other areas of the State. The PDP government has abandoned the riverine areas of the state to their own devices.

    “When compared to other states in the Niger Delta with similar FAAC and IGR revenues, Delta is beset by poor or nonexistent infrastructure.

    “Even the few projects that exist are poorly executed. The net effect is that the state looks like a giant junkyard. Most of the roads and structures purportedly executed by the Okowa government in the last seven years have failed and, in many instances, outrightly collapsed.

    Many such failed projects that litter the state are being recycled and re-awarded to cronies without a visionary and credible plan for sustainable infrastructural development.

    “Today, there are strong reasons to believe that monies meant for the development of Delta State are now being channelled to fund the ill fated ambition of Governor Okowa to become Vice-President of Nigeria in 2023 by every means. Just go around the state.

    The poverty and frustration inflicted by this government on Deltans over the years are palpable and scary. Insecurity, low quality projects, lack of vision to revive the economy of the State, misplaced priorities in governance, corruption, nepotism, government waste, incompetence, and lack of accountability are pervasive and profound.”

    “This failed PDP government has no solid plan to address the insecurity situation in the State. If elected, our government will tackle the challenges of insecurity from day one. Our administration will create a security trust fund, facilitate, and equip community policing for every ward, village, and town in Delta State.”

    ” We will create a system to build security awareness and confidence in our communities for intelligence gathering and sharing at various levels. There will be a revitalized and strengthened State Security Council that will assist in the coordination of law and order. To ensure security in our communities, our government will partner with traditional institutions and community-based youth organizations to ensure and promote communal conflict resolution.”

    ” We believe that the development we desire for Delta State can only take place when there is peace and enduring security. Delta State and our government will benefit more if we also elect an APC federal government. An APC led federal government will partner better with an APC government in Delta State. Our plans to revive the ports in Warri, Koko and Burutu to boost the economic transformation of Delta State will be better enhanced by an APC led federal government. We will be able to attract other federal projects and influence policies favorable to Delta State in an APC led federal government with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Commander-in-Chief.”

    He further called on all Deltans to vote massively for Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well as all other APC candidates across board.

  • Omo-Agege urges Itsekiri nation to vote for APC in 2023

    Omo-Agege urges Itsekiri nation to vote for APC in 2023

    Ovie Omo-Agege, Delta governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged the Itsekiri nation to vote for the party at all levels in 2023 general election.

    Omo-Agege said this when he visited Chief Ayiri Emami at his residence in Ubeji in Warri South Local Government Area of the state.

    He said that voting for APC would end the marginalisation of oil producing ethnic nationalities in the state.

    Addressing supporters, Omo-Agege, also deputy senate president, said that the Itsekiri nation has not benefitted much from the 13 per cent oil derivation accruing to the state for contributing to the nation’s economy.

    “This election is the one that will change course of politics in Delta.

    “For some of us; we believe that enough is enough; we need to reverse the trend and doing so; we need people who believe that there is something wrong.

    “Some of us believe that the status quo is not good for the well-being of the Itsekiri nation.

    “That is why we are leading the change and we believe that all well-meaning Itsekiri people will join us in this effort to change the narrative,” he said.

    Omo-Agege said that enthroning Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s president in 2023would help address the problem of marginalisation of the Itsekiri nation, as he was an in-law and member of the nation.

    “With the experience I have gained serving at national level especially in the senate, the president, no matter how powerful needs the support of the National Assembly.

    “That is why the candidates we are putting forward will not just represent the interest of the Ijaw or Isoko people, but also the interest of the Itsekiri nation.

    “My appeal is that you support Tinubu as president, Omo-Agege as governor, our senator, members House of Representatives and House of Assembly,” he said.

    The lawmaker said that as a senator representing Delta Central at the National Assembly, he had impacted positively on all communities in his senatorial district.

    He attributed the feat to his cordially relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidency and expressed hope that such would replicate itself in 2023 with the emergence of Tinubu as president.

    The senator said that he had met with the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse 111 and made a commitment that he would consult with the Itsekiri people before taken decisions that would impact on their wellbeing.

    “I met the royal father being the custodian, political, cultural and spiritual leader to the Itsekiri nation in that capacity, I have visited and consulted with the Itsekiri nation.

    “The position I have taken is that I need the support of the Itsekiri to emerge as Delta governor. The commitment I made to the king, going forward is that I will move out of my comfort zone and do the extraordinary.

    “I will call the traditional institution being the custodian of the interest of the Itsekiri nation to ask what they want and whatever the Itsekiri nation put forward is what we will do as government,” Omo-Agege said.

    Responding, Emami said that the Asiwaju’s project was an Itsekiri project.

    Emami assured that whatever votes accruing to Tinubu as president would also accrue to Omo-Agege as governor and other candidates of the party.

    “Asiwaju’s project is our project; he is an Itsekiri by marriage. Tinubu going for presidency, I do not think any Itsekiri will vote against him.

    “It is a project every Itsekiri will support. I can say categorically that Itsekiris will vote for Asiwaju.

    “Itsekiri and Urhobo are brothers and sisters, so whatever goes to Asiwaju will equally go to Omo-Agege as governor and other candidates,” he said.

  • 2023: How Okowa betrayed his people, entire South – Omo-Agege

    2023: How Okowa betrayed his people, entire South – Omo-Agege

    Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 governorship election in Delta State has said the State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa betrayed his people and the entire southern region of the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Senator Omo-Agege stated this on Monday in Asaba, the State capital during the inauguration of his campaign council.

    The event, which was held at the APC’s campaign office along Summit road, Asaba drew a large turnout of party faithful and supporters across the state.

    In his speech, Omo-Agege, also the Deputy Senate President, charged the campaign council to hit the ground running, saying the time has come for the APC to reclaim the state from the PDP.

    He charged all party faithful to work with the campaign council to ensure grassroot mobilisation to ensure victory of the APC come 2023.

    “All of you here are members of the campaign council. Every party member, right from the wards to the state level is charged with delivering the party.

    “So, I urge everyone here to go back home to your wards,spread the good news that the APC has come to deliver the people of Delta.

    “As you vote for Omo-Agege to be your governor, don’t forget that we need our men in all positions. We must deliver our senators in the three senatorial districts.

    “As you spread the message, don’t forget that as a party, we have a mandate to deliver our presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It has to be APC all the way.

    “Here in Delta, 2023 is our turn, the decision has been taken and that is what I have come here today to tell you all,” he said.

    The deputy senate president said that the APC family in Delta would work assiduously to truncate the vice-presidential ambition of Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa.

    “Okowa betrayed his people of Delta and the entire Southern Nigeria. He hosted a meeting of Southern governors here in Asaba where a resolution was taken that it was the turn for a southern president.

    “But he turn around to betray his people. We must work to truncate his ambition. He can’t go anywhere,” Omo-Agege said.

    The Delta APC governorship campaign council comprised of notable chieftains of the party, among them a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, as Director-General.

  • INTERVIEW: Omo-Agege will bring the much-needed transformation in Delta – Ewherido

    INTERVIEW: Omo-Agege will bring the much-needed transformation in Delta – Ewherido

    Mr Francis Ewherido, a foundation member of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Delta State has said the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the State, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege will bring the much-needed transformation in the State if elected into office in the 2023 elections.

    In this interview, Mr Ewherido, who is a writer and insurance broker, and who tells you he is a professional who just found himself in politics courtesy of his late brother, Sen. Akpor Pius Ewherido, averred that the Deputy Senate President will make a good governor.

    Ewherido, who spoke extensively on the 2023 elections, the issues that led to the Ewheridos piping low on politics and their eventual return, argued that Senator Omo-Agege is good product and therefore is easy to market for the governorship position.

    He stated that this is especially so, stressing that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the State has not made any meaningful impact to positively affect the lives of the people of Delta in the last 16 years.

    Read full interview below:

    Q: YOU WERE ACTIVE IN 2015, BUT HAVE BEEN QUIET THEREAFTER

    You are correct. My brother Emma and I were involved more than you know 2015. The APC lost the governorship election in Delta, but won at the centre. Like other states the leadership of APC in Delta State took their turn to congratulate the President-Elect then, Muhammadu Buhari, at Aguda House in Abuja. The venue was not yet full when we got there. The front roll was fully occupied, but there were empty seats in other rolls. Emma sat on the front roll. Then more people came in. One of them was a former member of the House of Representatives, who crossed over from PDP to APC two days earlier. The leader of our delegation told Emma to vacate his seat for the Honourable. Emma refused. The leader started threatening Emma. I was in shock. He later apologised to Emma privately, but of what use when you disgraced him publicly?

    See, my late brother, Sen. Ewherido was founding member of APC nationally and the arrowhead in Delta State. After he died, his loyalists sent Chief Adelabu Bodjor, Hon. Edewor Omonemu, and the late Chief Henry Olori to ask us the way forward and if an Ewherido family member was interested in taking over. We told them we just wanted to be left alone to mourn our brother. They sought our consent and we told them they could go ahead to look for a new leader and financier. Omonenu was detailed to go to Lagos to see a potential new leader and financier.

    Anyway, other unsavoury incidents happened after the Abuja incident and we just felt it was needless hanging around. We decided to concentrate on our individual pursuits. In Urhobo, there is onome (this is mine) and oravware (This is ours). In life, onome should sometimes take precedence over oravware. APC was oravware. 

    In politics, loyalty is a scarce commodity and when you get it, you treasure it. Sen. Ewherido could not have committed such a school boy error of publicly humiliating and telling a hard core loyalist to vacate his seat for a day-old member of the party. The same person for whom Emma was publicly disgraced is back in PDP as we speak. But we are still in APC. Since then, we decided to concentrate on onome until HE Senator Ovie-Omo-Agege became deputy president of the senate. He extended a hand of fellowship to us and that is why we are back on the train.

    Q: IS THAT WHY YOU ARE ROUTING FOR OMO-AGEGE?

    Not necessarily. Any good marketer will tell you the ease of selling a good product. Those from Delta Central back home are in a better position to tell you the impact the PDP-led Delta State Government has made and that of Omo-Agege senator representing us. For me ipsa loquitur (the fact speaks for itself).

    PDP has not clothed itself in glory in the last 16 years, especially. Omo-Agege has shown that he can bring the much needed transformation in Delta State if Deltans vote him in as governor. Look at Rivers and Akwa Ibom States and what they have achieved in the last 16 years. How much revenue did they and Delta State earn within this period? I just feel the problem with Delta State it is lack of good leadership. Omo-Agege will be a good governor. He has proven that with his performance in the senate.

    Q: SO, YOU ARE NOT SUPPORTING HIM DUE TO PARTY AFFILIATIONS?

    May be partly because my late brother wanted APC to rule Delta State and provide good and visionary leadership. But I am also supporting him because in my opinion, he is the best candidate. Incidentally, I am supporting other APC candidates in the state because I feel they are the best. For Senate I am supporting Chief Ede Dafinone. The other candidates are eminently qualified, but I have known Dafinone in the financial circle, not just him, but his siblings, for a while. Except for Ede who politics threw into public light, the rest of them are accomplished but live private lives. I had to caution a young friend who said Ede does not have the financial capacity to match his candidate. I told him that beyond his personal accomplishments and wealth, Ede has family wealth that spans over 60 years. You do not compare that with wealth that was created from in 1999. In any case, the election should be issues-based, not who has more money.

    Q: BUT THEY ALSO SAY HE IS NOT A GRASSROOT MAN AND CAN NEITHER SPEAK URHOBO NOR OKPE

    The grassroot base issue is not true. Speaking fluent Urhobo might be true, but I speak Urhobo fluently because my parents taught me. The mistake of the father should not be visited on the son. There are other aspirants in the same boat as Ede Dafinone. They also do not speak Urhobo fluently, but the question is, is speaking Urhobo a criterion for providing effective representation of your people? The business in the senate is conducted in English and Dafinone is very sound there. I would have been worried if he could not speak English very well. My position in no way negates my age old advocacy that we must speak our indigenous languages to our children and stop a vital part of our culture from going into extinct. But we should stop muddling issues and stay focussed.

    Rev. Francis Waive, who represents my constituency in the House of Representatives is another good product that is easily marketable. For me, he is the best representative of my constituency in the green chamber since 1999. Again res ipsa loquitur. (The fact speak for itself). He deserves a second term. There is another candidate who tickles me a lot. He is not from my constituency, but a sound young lawyer. We worked for the same client some time ago. He was the lawyer while I was the insurance consultant. He is very hardworking, diligent and thorough. We must begin to support and vote for our best candidates at all levels. That is one of the surest ways for a better Nigeria. Finally, is my home boy, John Oyibokwifi, aspiring to represent Ughelli South Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly. I am sentimentally attached to the constituency because apart from my hometown, being part of Ughelli South, my late brother Sen. Ewherido was the first legislator to represent the constituency in the fourth republic – 1999 to 2007. There are three major blocks, Ewhu, Ughievwen, and Olomu in the constituency, not to discountenance my maternal home town, Effuron-Otor. Power has gone round and come back to Ewhu and John is a young, vibrant and intelligent man. He is a new kid on the block, but the cap fits.

    Q: SO YOU BELIEVE IN POWER ROTATION

    Yes, but initially I was opposed to it until Ibori rammed it down our throats in Delta State. Now I see the benefits. The Urhobos used to be terribly hated in Delta State. I remember traveling from Asaba to Lagos around 2001. The venom that came out of one mama from Asaba sent shivers round my body. She hated everything about Urhobos including our delicacies and how we spoke. Now Delta South and Delta North have produced governors. Anger towards Urhobos has eased and the political atmosphere is calmer because every ethnic group thinks it can now produce a governor through power rotation. 

    The initiator and beneficiaries of zoning in Delta State are all in Delta PDP. I thought they should sell and champion power rotation between North and South as a recipe for peace and stability in Nigeria, but that seem not to be the case. I am a firm believer of rotation of power between the north and south. It is the turn of the south and I am resolutely committed to it. Any lover of Nigeria should. National interest should supersede personal interest. I see only Southern candidates contesting to be the next president of Nigeria. I can’t see beyond that. After eight years, power goes back to the north in 2031, thank you.

  • 2023: Omo-Agege, Keyamo threaten PDP with quit notice in Delta

    2023: Omo-Agege, Keyamo threaten PDP with quit notice in Delta

    Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege on Sunday called for unity among members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta to kick out the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administration in the state in 2023.

    The call was made in a statement in Abuja, by Mr Ima Niboro, Director, Communications and Media Strategy, Delta APC Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation.

    According to the statement, Omo-Agege spoke at a meeting of Delta Central APC Leaders and Stakeholders in Effurun, Delta.

    Omo-Agege, who doubles as the governorship candidate of APC in the state, stressed the need for unity for the party to clinch power in 2023.

    He lamented that the state had been under bondage of underdevelopment since 1999, declaring that 2023 was a year of liberation.

    Omo-Agege said he was motivated by a desire to arrest receding hope among Deltans and build a state where the people’s future would be brighter than their past.

    He said that fairness demanded that power returned to the South in 2023 since President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, was about completing eight years in office.

    “We need to be united to be able to confront the PDP. These are people who keep repeating the same thing and expect a different outcome.

    “We are going to change the narrative in Delta. We are going to stand by Bola Tinubu for President. Selling him won’t be a difficult task. We saw what he did in Lagos,” he said.

    Also, convener of the meeting and Spokesperson, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo SAN, accused the PDP government of running “a clueless and shortsighted administration”.

    Keyamo said that the agenda of the PDP government in the state was to impoverish the people and make life difficult for them.

    He said that: “the jacket of disunity is already in PDP. We will rescue the people from hunger and bondage”.

    On his part, elder statesman  Frank Kokori expressed delight that the state was having a ‘real Urhobo man’ vying for the position of the governor in 2023.

  • VIDEO: Masquerades campaign for Tinubu, Omo-Agege in Warri

    VIDEO: Masquerades campaign for Tinubu, Omo-Agege in Warri

    Some masquerades were sighted campaigning for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu during a traditional carnival in Warri, Delta state.

    The traditional carnival is known as Anwakere Festival, popularly referred to as the Okere juju festival amongst residents of Warri.

    The masquerades in their numbers lined out in colourful costumes made with fabrics of the APC’s 2023 presidential and gubernatorial hopefuls, Tinubu and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege respectively.

    It was gathered that APC leader, Chief Ayiri Emami, who is an indigene of the Okere community, facilitated the costuming of the masquerades.

    The 2022 edition of the annual Anwakere Festival (aka Okere Juju), which is the 525th edition, rounded off on Saturday, August 13, 2022.

    Watch video below:

  • Without you, the story of Delta will be incomplete – Omo-Agege tells Ibori at 64

    Without you, the story of Delta will be incomplete – Omo-Agege tells Ibori at 64

    Deputy Senate President and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 elections, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has said without Chief James Ibori, the story of Delta will be incomplete.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Ima Niboro, Director, Communications and Media Strategy, Delta APC Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation quoted Senator Omo-Agege to have said this as Chief Ibori marks his 64th birthday.

    “Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori,  has carved a niche for himself as a political leader without whom the story of modern Delta would be incomplete,” the Delta APC gubernatorial candidate was quoted to have said.

    In a congratulatory message signed by the Director, Communications and Media Strategy of the Delta APC gubernatorial campaign organisation, Senator Omo-Agege described Chief Ibori as a leader who believes in building bridges rather than burning them.

    The Senator extolled the past and present leadership  roles of the ex-governor, recalling his invaluable contribution to the struggle for resource control and the attainment of 13 percent derivation for oil producing areas in Nigeria.

    He noted that Ibori will remain a reference point in state and national politics because of his depth of knowledge and understanding of both Delta state and Nigeria.

    “His agitation along with other great Niger Delta leaders and patriots paved way for the 13 per cent derivation from proceeds of oil and gas that some are frittering away today in Delta.

    “Regardless, Chief Ibori remains a bridge builder and father to all irrespective of our political parties at the moment. His tenure as governor paved the way for positive developments in our state which endure till today.

    “He fostered peace in our multilingual state, built bridges across board. As the second civilian governor of our dear state from 1999 to 2007, he weathered several storms and laid a foundation for his successors to build on,” he said.

  • Omo-Agege at 59

    Omo-Agege at 59

    By Francis Ewherido and Emma Ewherido

    Delta Central Senatorial District has had the fortune of producing some outstanding senators. Notable among them are the great Senator David Dafinone (DOD) and the erudite Senator Akpor Pius Ewherido, Aka Gogorogo), both of blessed memory. The current Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District who is also the Deputy President of the Senate, HE Ovie Omo-Agege, whose birthday is today follows a familiar path.

    Omo-Agege had a privileged background. He was born on 3rd August 1963. His father is the late Justice James Omo-Agege, who was the Chief Judge of Delta State and his mother is the late Princess Francesca Okwendo-Wanogho, chartered public accountant in the government of Bendel State now Edo State and Delta State both of Orogun Clan in Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State.

    He had his early education in Bendel State. Proceeded to study law at the University of Benin and was called to the bar in 1986. He did his National Youth Service with Police Command in Kwara State. University degree and NYSC certificates which we took for granted then are now the albatross of many politicians in Nigeria. He also holds a Master’s Degree with distinction from Tulane University Law School, New Orleans, USA.

    After being called to the bar he has practiced in Nigeria and the United States for some years. His legal background prepared him for his journey in politics and government. He was at various times special assistant to the governor, commissioner for special duties and secretary to the Delta State Government. He became a senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District in 2015. He was reelected to the senate reelected in 2019. The icing on the cake was his emergence as the Deputy President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The position has enabled him to surpass all his predecessors in terms of projects he attracted has to Delta Central Senatorial District. These include a Federal Government Polytechnic in Orogun, Delta State, massive improvement in electricity transmission and other electrification projects.

    In law making, his core duty, he has been involved in the following: A bill for an Act to Establish the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun and for Other Matters Connected Thereto, which was passed into  law and assented to by the President; National Social Security Commission (Establishment, etc) Bill, 2022 (now passed by the Senate); Court of Appeal Act (Amendment) Bill 2019; a Bill for an Act to Establish the Federal Polytechnic, Orhomuru, Orogun, which was passed and assented by the president; a   Bill for an Act to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Educational Institutions and for Matters Connected therewith, passed and assented to by the president; A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act No. 6, 2010 and for Connected Matters, 2019; A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act No. 6, 2010 and for Connected Matters, 2019; A Bill for an Act to Establish the National Electoral Offences Commission and for Connected Matters, 2019 he co-sponsored with Senator Abubakar Kyari and Senator Kabiru Gaya and National Industrial Court Act (Amendment) Bill 2019. There are other bills including those in the works. Now we have worked with my brother, Sen. Ewherido and know that the process of getting a bill to be passed by the state assembly and the senate is rigorous. Any good lawmaker will tell you the rigours they go through to get a bill passed. That is why some of them spend donkey years in the Senate, House of Representatives and the State Legislature without a single bill to their name.

    He has done well in the senate and will do a lot more when he becomes the governor of Delta State. Obarisi Omo-Agege is married to Rosemary Omo-Agege, also a lawyer and they both have five children. Happy birthday and many happy returns, sir.

  • 2023: Let’s flush out PDP team of misrule, Dafinone tasks Deltans

    2023: Let’s flush out PDP team of misrule, Dafinone tasks Deltans

     

    …gets blessings from Orodje, Bishop Orovwudje, Urhobo Leaders

    Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Delta Central Senatorial District, Okakuro Ede Dafinone has tasked Deltans to flush out Delta PDP team of misrule which has run Delta State for over 20 years without visible and tangible development.

    Dafinone, a chartered accountant of international repute and industrialist, stated this when the Ede Dafinone Campaign Organization paid consultation visits to some prominent Urhobo leaders and stakeholders to seek their support and prayers for the success of his senatorial quest.

    The leading Senatorial candidate for Delta Central explained that when a team perform poorly like the case of the PDP in Delta State that has mismanaged the resource of the oil-rich state, it’s natural to change the team for poor performance.

    He noted that 2023 presents another great opportunity to get things right in Delta State by voting for APC and vote out the PDP, assuring that unlike before votes will count in the 2023 election following the newly amended electoral which has been introduced the use of technology in the transmission of electoral result.

    According to him, “I believe Delta State need a new team because, in terms of development, Delta State is lagging behind. It is time, for Deltans to take over Delta State and vote out PDP for poor performance, you don’t promote a student who has consistently failed exams, let’s vote APC come 2023 so that we can attract visible and viable development.

    While calling on Deltans to vote for Senator Ovie Omo-Agege as the best man to lead the state at this critical moment, he added, “In the 2023 elections, every vote will count, so my appeal to those who have not gotten their permanent voter card PVC, to seize the opportunity of the two days left to go and get their voting power.

    Earlier at the palace of the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, HRM Maj. Gen. Felix Mujakperuo (retd), Orhue 1, where Okakuro Ede Dafinone felicitated with him on his 16th coronation anniversary, the monarch prayer for the APC senatorial hopeful to succeed in his senatorial ambition, assuring him of Okpe people’s support.

    Dafinone who also visited Bishop Philip Orovwudje of the Garden of Life Assembly at his home to seek his support and prayers ahead of his senatorial elections received assurance from the Bishop of massive support from the Christian community in Delta Central.

    Dafinone also visited the former Secretary General of Urhobo Progress Union and Former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Delta State, Chief (Barr.) Victor Otomewo, Chief Austin Uloho and Olorogun Felix Edore Kupa.

    Speaking separately during the visit, Chief Barr. Otomewo and Chief Austin Uloho, all acknowledge the credibility and competence of Chief Ede Dafinone to represent the Urhobo Nation at the senate, noting that amongst all the candidates vying for the Senate, Ede Dafinone stands shoulder high above the others.

    They disclosed that come 2023 Delta Central will not lower the bar at the Senate considering the superlative performance of DSP Ovie Omo-Agege, “will not support people who cannot represent the interest of Urhoboland but are only going to senate to line up their pockets.

    Chief Uloho assured him of their total support in Ughelli North but advised him to work on other local governments. Olorogun Felix Edore Kupa also assured of the support of the people of Ughelli South promising that the APC will definitely win as Chief Ede Dafinone is a candidate to beat come 2023.