Delta 2015: Give me the Mantle,I am well prepared -Okowa. Senator Ifeanyi Okowa is the chairman, Senate Committee on Health representing Delta North Senatorial District and a governorship aspirant in Delta State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In this interview, he asserts his experience and preparation for the governorship of his native Delta State. Excerpts: You are one of the governorship aspirants in Delta State for the 2015 election, how prepared are you for the race? Well, I am very much prepared for what I am seeking for because I believe that I have all the necessary and required experiences. I have been a commissioner in several ministries, between 1999 and 2006, I have been the Secretary to the State Government by the grace of God between 2007 and 2010, I am currently a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria representing Delta North, I quite understand the political terrain, I quite understand my people and their wish and what they expect from the political class and to that extent, I believe that having the clear knowledge of the people and having the clear knowledge of the challenges that they faced and also with the good understanding of what the two previous PDP administrations in Delta State have done, I believe that I am quite placed to move the state forward. This is more so because I know the strength of the various areas of the state, I know where we possibly have some weaknesses and where we need to build the point. In terms of the political terrain in the state, I understand it quite a lot. Given your relative success in the Senate why opting for governorship? Well, in the first instance, you would understand that I come from the executive background. And the executive background did prepare me in whatever representation I am giving, because there are a lot of experiences that I have come with having a clear understanding of local government council administration as an elected council chairman, having a good understanding of how ministries are run and how government is run as Secretary to State Government. That definitely gave me a good advantage to perform more effectively in the Senate and more importantly, to reach out to our people. I believe that I am the best person positioned to consolidate and advance progress in Delta State at the moment, because having been a key player in both PDP administration and with the experience that God has offered me at the national level, I believe that if I share my thought and experiences with our people, working collectively because I am a team player, I believe that the sky is our limit in Delta State and we can do a lot to affect the lives of the people. So I would rather wish to offer that service at the moment to the people of Delta State and thereafter, probably in future, if it is possible that we can return to contribute through any other position that God may wish to be, we can do that. It is alleged that many of your loyalists have shifted camp because the governor is supporting a different aspirant? Apparently, as far as I am concerned, I still see all that as speculative and I want to believe that it is speculative because I have had time to talk to the governor on my own and he had said to me several times that he has not anointed any person. I want to believe the governor for what he is saying. Anointing of persons There is no doubt that people have been talking about somebody who is being anointed by the governor and that is why I said it is speculative. But as days go by, the election is still on November 29, it’s still very far from now, so there could be a lot of changes. If the ticket eludes you would you like to return to the Senate? That is off the line because I have focused my mind on being governor and so I can’t be thinking of the Senate. I have focused my mind on being governor; that is what I want, that is what I pray for, that is what I am going for and that is what I go to campaign for. So there is no question of returning to the Senate; that is already off the line for 2015. Given the large number of aspirants for governorship position in Delta State, would you be agreeable to a consensus arrangement? I wouldn’t know now if that can be possible. If it is a possible, that will be good enough for our state but it should be a consensus candidate picked on the basis of political reality, picked in the best interest of Deltans and once the criteria is properly set and there is an agreement among aspirants, I am sure there won’t be any issue as long as the principles that arise which is about the people and about the level of preparedness of aspirants, if the criteria is set right, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. Assuming you are denied the primary ticket under the PDP, would you defect to another political party? No. But I don’t believe that I would be denied the ticket, I have a very strong will. By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 07:38:52 +0000
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