Anastacia Eluwa, Asaba
Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu on Monday described the joint ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as a ticket for recovery aimed at bringing Nigeria back to winning ways, uniting the country and giving jobs back to the youths.
Aniagwu added that the Atiku-Okowa ticket for the 2023 general election were focused on recovering Nigeria from the deep mess created by the seven years of rudderless leadership of the All Progressives Congress,(APC).
Aniagwu who stated this at a news conference in Asaba, lauded the media for their contributions to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s emergence as Vice-Presidential flag-bearer of the party.
He stressed that the party was devoted to building infrastructure which had suffered abysmally on account of the APC government not understanding what development was all about.
Flanked by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Olisa Ifeajika, the Information Commissioner remarked that “the honour done to the governor is not for the governor alone but the entire Southern Nigeria and the rest of the country.
“They both understand economic issues and the need to bring in many persons on board irrespective of their political persuasions”, he said.
Responding to the allegation by the Ovie Omo-Agege campaign organisation in Delta, Aniagwu urged the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege to concentrate on what he intends to do if elected and stop chasing shadows.
“We read in some quarters of the media that he is alleging that Okowa betrayed Southern Nigeria by accepting to be running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“The quest of the Deputy President of the Senate to govern our state is within his constitutional rights to aspire and we do not begrudge him just as it is the right of every other Deltan to want to contribute to the development of the state.
Aniagwu said the Director of Communications of the Ovie Omo-Agege campaign organisation was a failed presidential spokesman hence he was replaced in 2011.
“Our brother, Ima Niboro who couldn’t help his former principal, the former president of Nigeria to canvass what the man was doing between 2010 and 2011 which is why he was replaced when the man won election.
“If he was doing so well am not too sure if he would have been replaced then as presidential spokesman so I wonder why Senator Omo-Agege would want to elevate a man who failed woefully in projecting his boss.
“Delegates of the party chose him from across the country and by the provisions of our laws once you win and you become a presidential candidate, your candidacy cannot be validated until you nominate a running mate for that ticket to be complete,”
Aniagwu further averred that leaders of the party and the flag-bearer examined a whole number of persons in the southern part of the country and found our governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa very well qualified to be able to bring a whole lot of value to that ticket.
“The Vice-Presidential ticket is not a position of contest, Okowa didn’t buy form to contest for Vice President.
“If Omo-Agege and his campaign organisation do not have what to tell Deltans as to what they are bringing to the table, they should leave Senator Okowa alone”, he added.
On the alleged N25 billion naira loan, Aniagwu mocked the APC for lacking knowledge of governance, adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assisted a number of persons across sectors.
“Delta State Government being a responsible government decided to guarantee our farmers so that the CBN can make the funds available for the farmers to increase their yield.
On the N150bn bridging finance, the Information Commissioner said the state government was yet to access the facility because Federal government was yet to commence the process of repatriation of the funds.
He urged the opposition to stop talking about the N150 billion in isolation and also be concerned about the projects the funds were earmarked for, adding that “until the refunds starts coming in, we will not proceed to approach the bank.”
