Former Minister of State for Education and Governorship Aspirant in Delta State, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi and Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger-Delta, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, both ranking members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, fell out, yesterday, over the performance of Delta Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who has done six years in office.
Senator Nwaoboshi in a forwarded message reportedly told some persons:”I am a PDP Senator but I have to tell you the truth. Urhobo and Itsekiri governors performed credibly well than our own Anioma governor.
“What has the Anioma governor done for Asaba people to show that he loves Asaba more than the Delta Central people? Don’t allow selfish people to bring division between us and Delta Central people.
“I challenge anyone to a debate that (Emmanuel) Uduaghan loves Asaba more than our Anioma governor anytime and anywhere. His legacy in Asaba speaks volumes. It is the turn of Delta Central to produce the next Governor of Delta State,” Nwaoboshi stated.
Reacting to the statement, Gbagi asserted: “Distinguished Senator Nwaoboshi, I have just read a small piece credited to your name comparing the works of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa to that of the two past governments. We are all citizens of the state, you and I, James Manager, formed this party. We know where we are coming from and we are all members of the party. If you drive today from the foot bridge of Anambra into Delta, to Sapele, Oghara, Warri, Isoko, Isiokolo and taking the entire state into perspective, what this governor has done, nobody has done.
“We know what resources had accrued to first governor, second governor and this third governor by way of revenue and in sharp contrast, we must give honour to whom honour is due, Okowa is a legend. Given the money he has received, given what he has been able to do, there is no local government that has less 10 roads constructed for it and its people without being cronies of this governor and that makes a huge difference.
“I do not like us to heat up the polity, we are working, we own this party together and we are one people. We need to love our brothers from the South, North and Central with a detribalized atmosphere of politics.
“I do not know whether you are still in PDP because some of these comments are very hateful and very hostile. However, as a friend, as one that I believe should understand what politics is all about, it is here today, it is here tomorrow, nobody knows, we should not think of Okowa in that light.
“Okowa is from your place, using the biblical understanding that a prophet is not recognized in his home, that man has done miracles with the resources he has, with the debts, divisions and troubles that he met on ground in the state. Take for instance, today, I drive my car from Abuja to Oginibo, never before now, all these years, I parked most of my cars in Abuja, today I drive to my country home, he did not consult me before he did the road.
“Do you know what happened to the Sapele-Warri road, that great road that was done by former Bendel state governor, Late Samuel Ogbemudia, do you know what happened in government before that time as if somebody used a tornado to destroy the road? Today, go back there, that road is being turned to an expressway with drainage and what have you, who is doing it?
“Look at Asaba, I went to Asaba the other day, Asaba is today a massive city that looks like the capital of a state. Before now, it was not.
“If we really want to look at it, let us look at the money that accrued to the first governor, what happened, the second governor, what happened, the third governor, what happened? I mean we can take all the streets in Delta, we can publish it, I plead with you Peter, to call your father a wrong name is not good for whatever it is worth.
We are friends and will continue to be friends. We own the party together. Please, I ask of you, Delta State must go forward. We must develop the state, the state must wear its look as one of the greatest states in Nigeria financially. All of these bickerings will not help us,” he said.
