A coalition of 800 support groups for Peter Obi in Delta State have pitched tent with the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
At an interactive session with the APC governorship candidate in Asaba over the weekend, Lead Coordinator of Coalition of OBIdients Movement in Delta Central, Mr Ochuko Edafe said the OBIdients vote individuals and not parties.
He was responding to a speech by Omo-Agege, who addressed the group on the pains of mis-governance experienced from the Ifeanyi Okowa administration in the past eight years, and the need to join forces with the APC to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Okowa.
“We OBIdients follow the footsteps and watch the character of our principal, His Excellency, Mr Peter Obi, and when we came down home to our state, Delta, we decided we are going to look out for the same character. And among all the people running for governor of Delta State, His Excellency, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has those qualities and character and as you can see, he is a man of the people who is ready to meet with the people anytime. We are not card carrying members of any political party. We look for qualities of a good leader and we have chosen to work with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. He is the most credible candidate for the 2023 governorship election in Delta State. That is where we have pitched out tent and that is where we have decided to follow.
“We know everything that is happening in Delta State and now that we have the opportunity to remedy the situation, we want to maximise it. Since 1999 till date, there has not been a senator who performed like Senator Omo-Agege. People ask why don’t we follow the Labour Party governorship candidate and we say, we follow Peter Obi because he is credible and that is why we say, the only credible candidate as far as Delta State governorship election is concerned is Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. I want to assure you that the way the 25 February presidential election went that is the way it will go on 11 March, expect more votes for Senator Ovie Omo-Agege”, Edafe said.
Earlier, Omo-Agege expressed bitterness about the burden of suffering which he said Okowa has placed on Deltans, adding that, he, as governorship candidate of the APC, was on the same page with philosophical views on how Deltans can live a better life. He called for an alliance to fight the battle of the governorship election.
The group said: “We are not happy with the way Okowa has punished our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who gave the best part of their lives serving Delta State and upon retirement Okowa refused to pay them their gratuities and pensions. On that, we are all on the same page.
“We are also not happy that our students who are in tertiary institutions in Delta State are being made to pay so much money by way of school fees and levies. We know when Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan left office, tuition was N25,000. Today under Governor Okowa tuition is N300,000. Are we happy about that?
“On that one, I, Ovie Omo-Agege Delta APC Governorship candidate and you are on the same page.
“We have so much in common, we have to come together, we have to work together and chase away Okowa and PDP from Delta State. We have succeeded in the first step. When election came on Saturday, the man who has stolen all our money said he wanted to be vice president, we said it can never happen. All of us came out and we chased PDP out. So now, the man can never be vice president. We have one more battle to go, we have to retire him permanently. We don’t have emperors in Delta State. Here we dig 6-feet graves to bury our dead but we are going to politically bury this man in a 21-foot grave. We don’t want the afflictions of Okowa and PDP in Delta State again.
“I want to make a commitment to all of you today, I feel your pains, we are on the same page. We want a Delta State where there will be job opportunities for our children when they leave school, where we will have good infrastructure, good roads, good schools, good hospitals and where workers will be paid their gratuities when they retire. A Delta State where we have 24 hours electricity, where companies operating across the Niger can come here to do business and create jobs openings for our youths.
“For us to get all of these, you have to elect a governor. I am the only one standing to fight and chase out Okowa, all other persons are pretenders who are enlisted into the battle to protect Okowa’s interest. Okowa is the one financing them. He is doing so because he wants a third term by proxy. I cannot do it alone, I need your help. I want all of us to come together. Between now and Saturday, go out there and canvass on behalf of Ovie Omo-Agege. When I emerge governor it is you that have emerged governor. When it is good for me, it is good for you. By God’s grace, if I emerge governor, come to me and tell me, this is what we want you to do for us. We are going to run a participatory government. We are going to bring you into government. I want to thank you, please do not rest. You started this and you have to finish it.
“Today, Okowa is running around begging everybody, moving about like a wounded lion. You see him on TV crying that election was rigged against him when we know he is the one who rigged election. When we know he is the one who stole the election in Ika Federal constituency and in Delta North. And for us in Delta Central he was prepared to steal our senate seat, in Delta South he wanted to steal our senate seat too but we refused”.
