Payment to Thugs: Okowa Says It’s False, Shows Omo-Agege’s Immaturity

Omon-Julius  Onabu in Asaba

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has advised the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, to be circumspect in commenting on issues concerning Delta and desist from making wild and unsubstantiated claims just to score cheap political points.

Okowa, who had a word of caution for the Senator representing Delta South about his unguarded utterances, also chided other leaders for lying to the citizens in the name of politics, including some 2023 election aspirants claiming to be endorsed by Governor Okowa.

The governor made the remarks yesterday during the first 2022 interactive media parley at the Government House Asaba, while reacting to various allegations by Omo-Agege against his administration, including claims that the governor pays N2bn (two billion naira) to political thugs monthly.

Omo-Agege, who made the claim recently during a public function of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at Agbor in Ika South Local Government Area of the state, also alleged that the Okowa government “received about N800 billion in six years without anything to show for it.”

While noting that the deputy president of the senate alone was in position to explain what he meant by “thugs”, Okowa said that the government pays his political appointees far less than one billion naira monthly and wondered why Omo-Agege often failed to conduct himself in accordance with his exalted position instead of denigrating his own state unnecessarily.

He said that there ought to be collaboration with the state government irrespective of political affiliations instead of non-beneficial politicking by the senator and his ilk.

Okowa who denied reports that he had hijacked the list of PDP delegates from the recent congresses said,  “Our party, PDP, and people are not violent. So, I don’t know who he (Omo-Agege) referred to as thugs.

“I will not play the kind of politics he tries play but we will continue to do our best for our people; and, I’m happy to hear that many people say we have exceeded our projections in many ways.”

The governor also denied that there was a rift in his party, assuring that the PDP and the so-called James Ibori political family were still united.

On why he has not joined the long list of politicians, including former and serving governors, jostling for the presidency of the country in 2023, the Delta governor said that he had not been persuaded by political and personal convictions to run for the office “despite a lot of pressure from different parts of the country” to run. 

Okowa said, “I have not been led to run for the presidency of the country in the 2023 general election even though there have been a lot of pressure on me to run from different parts of the country.”

Okowa also expressed concern about the rate of vandalism of public infrastructure and amenities especially in schools. “The issue of vandalism of public infrastructure is very disturbing at the moment. I want to appeal to our young ones who indulge in such act to desist from it. 

“People coming to destroy windows, ceiling and other infrastructure in government facilities in the state was unacceptable. 

“Government cannot police all the schools in the state; there is need for community leaders and other stakeholders to partner government in protecting public infrastructure,” the governor said.

On the ongoing projects of the Warri/Uvwie and Environs Development Agency (WUEDA), the governor promised to look into what was happening in the agency with a view to ensuring that all is well.

While noting that a lot was being done about the security situation in Warri and Effurun axis, adding that his administration was doing everything within the limit of available resources to deliver the much needed dividends of democracy to Delta State citizens. 

Okowa also justified the establishment of three new state owned universities in the state, disclosing that over 4,500 students had been offered admission for the current academic year in the new universities, adding that the institutions had helped bridge admission gap in the state.

Meanwhile, the governor urged journalists in the state to join hands with his administration in continuously preaching peace as well as sensitising the people against indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drainage channels across the state, particularly in Asaba and other urban areas of the state.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, commended journalists in the state for their general professional disposition, noting that they have been quite “supportive in propagating the policies and programmes of the Okowa administration, urging them to sustain the partnership towards ensuring good governance in the true democratic spirit for the overall development of Delta State.