My Involvement in Politics is to Leave A Legacy Behind, Says Ikie
Sylvester Idowu in Warri
A renowned legal practitioner based in United Kingdom and Nigeria, Chief Aghwarianovwe Novwe Ikie, has explained that one of the reasons he joined politics was to leave a legacy behind and not for monetary gains.
He said this was why he rejected N1 billion allegedly offered him by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart during the party’s 2023 governorship primaries in Delta State.
Ikie made this disclosure Thursday at his hometown at Eku in Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state when he played host to All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders and members in an event which also coincided with his 62nd birthday.
The PDP chieftain, who recently defected to the APC, maintained he was not interested in politics for personal wealth but on how to make people better and happy.
“If I was interested in money, I would have accepted the N1 billion offered to me by a PDP chieftain. I don’t have N1 billion cash, I would have had N1 billion but that is not who I am but leave a legacy like my leader, His Excellency Senator Ovie Omo-Agege
“I was a founding member of PDP. But now, that I am here in the midst of APC leaders and members, they should know otherwise they will be confused if I am still in PDP because I contested the primaries with Governor Sheriff’s Oborevwori and went to court all the way to the Supreme Court. So they could be confused out there.
“Today I want everybody to know that yes I am back fully and I am not going anywhere and I am in APC full stop,” he said.
Ikie commended the leadership of the APC in the state and particularly identified with former Deputy President of the Senate, Senators Omo-Agege whom he said meant well for Delta State.
“I have one leader and that leader is His Excellency, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. That’s the leader I have. I don’t have any other besides him. So we must do everything to make sure that he emerges as the next democratic governor of Delta State and when he emerges I am confident, I know him and I know he means well for Delta State. Look at what he did in Orogun that is legacy,” he said.
During the APC meeting, some persons defected from the PDP in Ethiope East Ward 9 to the APC and were received by the local government APC Chairman, Chief Julius Ogboru, a scenario Ikie described as coincidental.
Ikie declared: “The essence of this gathering is not really for defection. Defection is just coincidental to it. The essence of this gathering is to celebrate myself, my person having attained 62 years bearing in mind I was a very frail child, that I survived is a miracle and thanks to Eku Baptist Hospital but incidentally life is politics, you cannot devoid or divorce politics from life.
“I am going to run for an office but 2027 is still far off. I don’t know which one but what I know is that I will not run for Ethiope Federal Constituency. I know that because the person I called my leader is aligned with a national leader and there is no way I will go against that interest. It could be Senate, it could be House of Assembly wherever they send me I will go if the leadership of APC says this is what you must do I will do.”
Ikie called on Nigerians in the diaspora to be involved in politics at the grassroots, noting that the country needs them to return home and change the narrative because of their belief in a functioning democracy.
“I have been encouraging them. I have come straight from the United Kingdom and I am here in my village in Eku. We don’t have Lions roaming the streets consuming people. Nigeria is safe. There is something about living abroad when you stayed away for a long time you become very frightened. You have heard stories but it is not as bad as they make it to look.
“They should come home and contribute their quota to the development of their communities, wards, local government and state as well as the federal,” he added.
