- Pledges Logistics support for Kwankwaso presidential campaign
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike says Nigeria is in dire need of a unifier that will drive the affairs of governance without any form of segregation.
Governor Wike spoke at the inauguration of the Mgbuitanwo internal road in Emohua Local Government Area of the State. The Mgbuitanwo internal roads was inaugurated by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on Monday.
Governor Wike expressed grave concern about how the diversity of the country has been grossly threatened by those who have resorted to campaign on the basis of ethnic and regional sentiment. According to him, such parochial tendency will make Nigerians more divided along religious and ethnic lines than ever before.
The Rivers State governor stated further that members of his integrity group are resolved to do what is right always as long as it will help to advance the county.
“It is not to say don’t vote for a Yoruba man, don’t vote for an Igbo man. That is not what we require in this country now. What we require is a man who will put Nigeria together. We of integrity group will continue to support whatever that is right, whatever will help this country.”
The governor explained that he had tried in vain to persuade leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party not to allow Kwankwaso not to leave the party because of the strategic importance of Kano State.
“When you wanted to leave PDP, I came to your house in Abuja. I said sir, don’t leave the party. I pleaded with you. I came two times. Those who never meant well for this party, who will want to take control where they never sowed. They said no, leave Kwankwaso to go. Who is he? Let him go, after all, I was a Senate President when he was Deputy Speaker House of Representatives. I said no, he is an asset to the party in Kano State. Kano is very important for our party, therefore, whatever it takes let’s keep him, let manage him. They said let him go.
“I said the more the merrier. We are opposition party, we cannot continue to drive our people away. Whoever is angry, let’s keep him, they said no. They said I went to see Kwankwaso, I said yes, because I know with him in Kano, there is likelihood that it will be better for us. But if we allow him to go, the repercussion will be too heavy. They said no. Kwankwaso left us.”
The Rivers State governor described the NNPP presidential candidate and former governor of Kano State, Kwankwaso as a man of integrity and number among leaders that Nigeria needs. According to him, the NNPP presidential candidate had assured him that his supporters who are still in PDP will vote for him during the PDP presidential primary and they did.
Governor Wike offered to provide protocol and logistics support to Kwankwaso whenever he wants to do his campaigns in Rivers State.
“If you’re coming for campaign here, I will give you the logistic support for you to campaign. You’re a former governor.”
He however, told Kwankwaso that it is difficult for any other party to win in Rivers State, therefore, it will be futile for him to waste resources, thinking he will win election for any candidate of his party in the State.
About his comment on release of unpaid 13% derivation money from 1999 to date, by President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Wike said he never said other Niger Delta governors should show proof of what they have done with their States’share.
Rather, Governor Wike stated that he only expressed his gratitude to President Buhari for releasing the money, which has helped him to execute a plethora of projects in the State.
“I never said people should account for their money. I never said so to anybody. All I said is people should thank Buhari for me, for giving me money to do all these projects. That all I said. If you people are interpreting a different thing that is your own business. Is it wrong to thank somebody who has done well for you?”
Governor Wike emphasised that his administration has never spent more than 14 months to deliver on any project in the State.
He pointed to the Mgbuitanwo Internal Roads as being among 20 other projects like the 9th, 10th flyovers that were all flagged off in June 2021, which have all been completed within the period.
Governor Wike said good governance is about the wellbeing of the people and if anybody in government or close to any top functionary is unable to attract project to his or her community, such person has failed
The governor stressed that his administration has delivered the Mgbuitanwo Internal Roads which is where Senator Andrew Uchendu, an All Progressives Congress chieftain hails from. He regretted that the former senator failed, while in government, to do the road for his community.
Governor Wike also mocked former Commissioner for Agriculture, Emma Chinda because he failed to attract government to do the roads for his Ogbakiri community, which his administration is now delivering for the people.
Performing the inauguration, the Presidential candidate of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso commended governor Wike for engaging Julius Berger Nigeria PLC to deliver the best quality of roads in a rural community.
Such gesture, Kwankwaso noted speaks of a leader who loves his people and is doing the best to better their lot across sectors including the provision of quality educational infrastructure.
Kwankwaso stressed that those who are undermining the capability of the PDP G-5, particularly governor Wike, are doing so to their peril politically because Rivers State like Kano, and Lagos is critical to wining any election.
The NNPP presidential candidate stated that members of the Integrity Group led by governor Wike, are good people who will continue to do the right thing, and will be judged by posterity based on what they do
On his part, Commissioner for Works, Dr Dakorinima Alabo George-Kelly said the Mgbuitanwo Internal Roads is 39300 square meters , has 200 millimeters thickness, with 50 millimeters binder course, 50 millimeters waring course fitted with street light and drains.
Regional Manager, South-South of Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, Jergen Fitcher said they have continued to deliver standard infrastructure in support of governor Wike policy of development of the State.
Press Statement
Rivers PDP Gov’ship Campaign Kick-off: Overwhelming Turnout, Pointer To Fubara’s Victory – Dekor
…Says Ogonis will Overwhelmingly Vote Sir Fubara
The massive turnout of the supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from across the state for the flag-off of its governorship campaign at the famous Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Saturday, November 19, 2022 is a confirmation of the party’s popularity in the state and a pointer to the expected victory of the party’s flag bearer, Sir Siminalayi Fubara in the 2023 election.
Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Robinson Dekor, member representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency in the National Assembly made the declaration while chatting with newsmen, shortly after receiving his flag for re-election for House of Representatives for Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency, at the sidelines of the epoch-making flag-off.
He described Sir Siminalayi Fubara as honest, God-fearing, a man of integrity, humble, transparent, peaceful, purposeful and a leader who has great vision for Rivers people.
According to the federal lawmaker, there is hardly any part of the state where the PDP is not the people’s choice based on visible evidence of good governance and quality leadership of His Excellency, Chief Barr. Nyesom Wike, the executive governor of Rivers State.
The most indelible and lasting campaign slogan, the former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly and one time Commissioner for Works noted, is quality leadership and people-oriented projects all of which Gov Wike has made a permanent feature of the PDP-led government in the state and which are here and there to speak for all PDP candidates for a repeat performance.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to our Governor and pray God to grant all our candidates same strength, grace and wisdom to follow after his footsteps. That is the only way we can thank him for all the testimonials of capability for all PDP candidates contesting the 2023 general elections which of course, have already launched them into the good books of the Rivers people, a necessary requirement for the certain victory of our party everywhere in the State”, Rt. Hon. Dekor stated.
In his hometown, Ogoni, Rt. Hon. Dekor said the Ogonis appreciate quality leadership, identify with the quality leadership of His Excellency and will overwhelmingly vote for Sir Fubara as Gov. Wike’s successor for consolidation of that quality leadership.
PRESS RELEASE
LASG URGES WORLD BANK TO EXTEND APPEALS PROJECT
…8,000 Farmers Benefited From Project In Five Years, Says Commissioner
…Presents Compensation Cheques To Beneficiaries Over Farm Produce Loss
Following the positive impact of the Agro-processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project on farmers’ productivity in the State, Lagos State Government has appealed to the World Bank for an extension of the project.
The request was made by the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, who disclosed that APPEALS Project in the State has empowered about 8,000 farmers, especially women and youths in the last five years.
Olusanya called for an extension of the APPEALS Project programme when World Bank and APPEALS Project representatives who were in Lagos for the 9th Implementation Support Mission to Lagos paid her a courtesy visit on Monday.
APPEALS project is a Lagos State and World Bank-assisted project in conjunction with the Federal Government aimed at enhancing the agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers and improving value addition along priority value chains – Poultry, Aquaculture and Rice under the Lagos APPEALS project.
Speaking during the courtesy visit, the Commissioner assured World Bank and APPEALS Project National Coordinating Office representatives that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Lagos State Government are ready to cooperate and do the needful for more farmers to benefit from the project if extended beyond the September 2023 deadline.
Olusanya during the visit also presented cheques to five farmers, who are Women and Youths Empowerment Programme beneficiaries as insurance benefits over the recent loss in their poultry farm as a result of Avian influenza, which led to the death of their birds.
The five beneficiaries – Hameed Osiyemi, Yahya Mohammed, David Christiana, Moromoke Olanrewaju and Omolara Ojo, were given between N50,000 and N210,000 as insurance benefits by the First Adequate Benefits Insurance Brokers Limited.
The Commissioner commended the Lagos State APPEALS Project, saying that the project has made the most impact compared to previous agricultural projects and programmes.
She said: “The State Project Coordinator (Mrs Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo) and her team members have handled the APPEALS project in the last five years. The APPEALS Project team is one of the best groups of people that we actually have coordinating this project statewide and with regard to the impact the project itself has made, I will say it is second to none.
“Over 8,000 youths and women have been trained and empowered based on field visits. The Lagos State APPEALS Project Coordinator is always pushing us. This team goes far and wide just to ensure implementation is done well. If there is also a team that I have seen a lot of integrity in, it is this particular team.
“We attend the State Steering Committee meetings with the deputy governor and a few other stakeholders from other MDAs and generally speaking APPEALS project is one of the seamless projects that the state has been able to run.
“I want to believe that if there is a possibility, this project should actually continue in all sincerity and if you don’t want to continue it nationally, you can just continue and look at Lagos State as a special project. I think Lagos deserves a special intervention because the team handling this project truth be told is still one of the best.
“We want to thank you (World Bank and APPEALS National Coordinating Office) for being very supportive of the Lagos State APPEALS Project, hoping that we will continue to have the support from now till the end of the project and if there is a possibility of extending it, I want to assure you that the Lagos State government under Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu is ready to cooperate.
“We are ready to serve the people. We are ready to do the needful according to the World Bank procedure and I can assure you that the impact that we all want to see is definitely what you will be assured of getting in Lagos State.”
Speaking during the courtesy visit, the Task Team Leader from World Bank, Dr Manievel Sene, commended the Lagos State Project Coordinator of APPEALS, Mrs Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo, and her team for the job they have done so far, declaring that Lagos is among the leading states in Nigeria based on an overall overview of APPEALS Project.
He said the World Bank will look at another project to scale up the achievements of the APPEALS project. “We are on the same page on how we can look at another project to scale up the achievements of the APPEALS project. We are ready for a new project that will build on APPEALS.
“I think Lagos APPEALS is moving in the right direction. Based on the information from the team, the project enjoyed strong support from Lagos State Governor and the State Government, which is very encouraging. We are very satisfied with the level of implementation and achievements by the APPEALS Project in Lagos,” he said.
Dr Sene commended the Lagos APPEALS collaboration with an insurance company, adding that the initiative would be scaled up and encouraged in the new project by the World Bank for farmers’ productivity.
Sagoe-Oviebo said part of the support the Lagos APPEALS project is doing is to ensure that beneficiaries are insured and that is why the project collaborated with the insurance company, noting that those who received cheques during the courtesy visit are parts of the Women and Youths Empowerment Programme beneficiaries from Epe axis of Lagos State.
The visit was part of the five-day event of the APPEALS Project 9th Implementation Support Mission of the World Bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria to Lagos State.
The main objective of the mission is to assess the project’s overall implementation status and ensure the successful completion of the project action plan developed during the 8th mission visit.
The National Project Coordinator of APPEALS Project, Mr Mohammed Jobdi and participants from the other five Implementing States of Cross-River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Kogi led by their State Project Coordinators were also present at the event.
DELTA 2023: Sheriff Oborevwori and The New Deal
By Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza.
There is widespread excitement among the people of Delta State right now. The excitement has enveloped a good majority of the people in anticipation of what is really people’s moment come 2023. One man who has become a phenomenon is behind this exciting wind of anticipation. That man, the man of the moment and perhaps for all times, is Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, present speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly and the Delta State Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s longest-surviving and most resilient political party ever, Africa’s largest political party and most pro-people organization.
Rt. Hon. Oborevwori did not emerge by happenstance. He has been on the political scene and undergone tutelage under three Governors in Delta State. He also has the rare privilege of legislative and executive experience and has over the years seen politics as a tool for constructively reshaping humanity and making life better for the people. This vision has not only evolved, but has become concrete as seen in his emergence as the PDP Governorship candidate of Delta State at a free and fair primary election.
Evolving with this man of destiny is the concept known as Sheriffication which has become an ideology and a movement in Delta State. Anywhere, everywhere and wherever you turn the agreement among the people, young and old, men and women is that Delta State has been Sheriffied. To be Sheriffied is to believe and embrace the idea of Sheriff Oborevwori becoming Governor of Delta State in 2023 and the concept is Sheriffication.
While the majority of Deltans hailed Oborevwori’s entry into the Governorship race with excitement, a small clique was displeased with what they considered Oborevwori’s near underprivileged background. This clique tried to discredit Oborevwori. They cast aspersions on him and questioned his academic achievements.
There were litigations intended to undo him and thwart the wish of the people for him to become their Governor. Good enough the litigations failed and the people’s desire to have Oborevwori as their Governor is gathering momentum. In a few months from now, the people will affirm him as the Governor of Delta State through the ballot. They will witness and celebrate his swearing-in and inauguration as Governor in May 2023.
The emergence of Oborevwori has a populist push to it. He came from among the people in every sense of the word. While some say that he came from the streets, they forget to see the streets as representing the true and real essence of the people. The street is where the people are and democracy is about the people.
The streets see Oborevwori as their own and he is very high on street credibility. He was born among the people, he grew up among them, lives with them and he knows their ways, their problems, their hopes, and aspirations. In him are the strategies with which to free the people from want, lack and set them on a pedestal for the new deal he is bringing to the table. Oborevwori is undoubtedly the ideal people’s politician and leader. His populist ideas and goals are unquestionably remarkable and unsurpassable.
The new deal Oborevwori is offering to Deltans is embodied in his manifesto aptly titled M.O.R.E. The acronym is symbolic because it recognizes that so much has been done in Delta State, but he is set to do MORE and take the State and people to the frontiers of the emergent New World order. The driving indices of MORE are Meaningful development, Opportunities for all, Realistic reforms, and Enhanced peace and security. Reading and evaluating the MORE agenda will reveal that Oborevwori has a deep understanding of what the development aspirations of Delta State are. Every Nation, every State is a work in progress always confronted by problems which right-thinking leaders who bear the burden of their people, like Oborevwori now does, are always desirous of remedying. The manifesto depicts Oborevwori as highly pro-people. MORE is the people’s agenda and in it, Oborevwori enunciates a new deal that will turn the State around for good.
The MORE agenda seeks to reposition Delta State and her people by engaging the core indices of modern development. Such indices under Meaningful development include education, energy, healthcare, physical infrastructure such as roads, transportation, housing, and new cities, rural development, urban regeneration, etc. The foci under Opportunities for all are employment and wealth creation, agricultural productivity, industrialization, ICT, sports, and creative enterprise. Realistic reforms will harness policies and programmes of Government for the good of the people, while peace and security will create an enabling environment for investment and social co-existence for all Deltans and other Nigerians and foreigners. Oborevwori deliberately deemphasizes the reliance on crude oil in articulating his development agenda. His dream of greatness and rebirth for Delta rests on her human capital and agricultural resources which are to be galvanized by education, energy, ICT, and industrialization.
Rt. Hon. Oborevwori, despite the tendency for political opponents to undermine his educational attainments, holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Degrees in Political Science from two of Nigeria’s prestigious Universities. Thus Oborevwori is well-grounded in the theory and practice of politics. Besides his towering educational attainments, Oborevwori has also undergone political leadership and managerial trainings in some of the best educational institutions in the world to reinforce his hands-on engagement in practical politics.
The truth is that all of those who undermine Oborevwori lack his capacity in every imaginable parameter. Among the qualification and experience reinforcing his competence and capacity are: Certificate in Top Executive Leadership Programme, Manchester Business School, United Kingdom; Certificate in Legislative Framework for Budget Management, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, United States of America; Certificate in Legislative Management and Leadership, International Law Institute, Washington DC, United States of America; Certificate in Leading Inclusive Development, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom; Certificate in Advanced Leadership Programme, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; among others.
It is doubtful if any other Nigerian politician has such a formidable attainment in the acquisition of knowledge of modern governance. This is the cumulative knowledge and experience that proposed the new deal for Delta State and her people. The new deal is in MORE as envisioned and articulated by Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori.
© Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza is the Deputy Director of, the Media and Publicity Committee, Delta State PDP Campaign Council.
Failed Promises: You should apologise to Nigerians not campaigning, Aniagwu tells Tinubu
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Spokesman, Mr Charles Aniagwu says the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu should not be campaigning rather be apologising to Nigerians for the hardship meted on the people by his party since 2015.
Aniagwu who stated this while addressing journalists on Monday in Asaba said that rather than apologise profusely for the failure of his party in the last seven and half years.
He said the APC had plunged over 133 million Nigerians into abject poverty despite their promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
According to him they APC made several promises to Nigerians in 2015 which they failed to fulfil including reducing the pump price of PMS to N65 but today it is selling for N250.
“A bag of rice was selling for N7500 when they came in 2015 today it is hovering around N50,000 per bag.
“Instead of him to go round and apologise for his failed promises he is coming round to make another fake promises to Nigerians.
“If the Buhari administration which he helped midwifed was working why didn’t they fulfill all the promises they made in 2015.
“Instead of reducing the unemployment in the country their administration has thrown over 133 million Nigerians into deeper poverty.
“Rather than apologising for their abysmal failure they are going round to tell lies again to the people with fake promises,” he said.
Aniagwu who is also Delta State Commissioner for Information, said that the All Progressives Congress APC Governorship candidate Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was unaware of happenings in Delta.
He said that the Okowa administration has constructed over 883 Road projects spanning 1,932km with over 1,000 line drainages, including storm drainages in Asaba and Warri in the last seven and half years.
“Starting from the creeks where Tinubu and Omo-Agege claimed nothing was being done and we won’t blame them because they are ignorant of happenings in the state.
“We have done internal roads in Burutu, Okerenkoko, Benikrukru, 20.4 Km Obotobo 1 and 2, Yokri, Sokebolou roads, Ogulaha – Youbebe Road, Isama, Kpakiama, Ogbebene, Oviri-Olomu-Egodor and Kombowei Road in Patani among others.
“In the urban areas the Ughelli-Asaba road, Okpanam Bye pass, Cable road, Okpanam Road, Mariam Babangida, DLA as well as Orogun township roads where Omo-Agege hails from.
“Beyond Road construction we have embarked on the construction of 22 bridges with 7 completed among which is the Ovwor – Effurun-Otor Otor Bridge, Oha-Orerokpe Road Agbarho-Orherhe Road and Bridge, Kwale-Beneku ongoing, Trans Warri Road and bridges, Koka Interchange and Flyover and the Ayakoromo bridge among others,” he stated.
On job creation in the state, Aniagwu said the state government under its youth empowerment programmes had empowered 13,510 youths with 222,000 persons benefiting directly and over 1.3 million people benefiting indirectly.
Aniagwu further listed other landmark projects of the Okowa led administration to include the Stephen Keshi Stadium at Asaba, Ozoro University Stadium, the ultra modern State Secretariat, Traditional Rulers Secretariat, Ogheye Floating Market, among others.
On successes recorded in the health sector, the Presidential spokesman said over 1.1 million Deltans have been enrolled into the state’s Contributory Health Commission, adding that the Asaba Specialist Hospital, Advanced Diagnostic Centre and Mother and Child Hospital in Owa-Alero and Ekpan were some of the achievements of the state government under the health sector.
He said the Okowa administration also recorded impressive performances in the revamping of 6 existing technical Colleges and the construction of additional 9 new ones with the establishment of 45 new Secondary 17 new primary schools across the state, construction of 8,617 class room blocks and the establishment of the Teachers’ Professional Development Centre at Owa-Oyibu.
13% Derivation: Okowa’s govt transparent, accountable
Delta Government on Monday debunked media reports credited to a governor of a South South state that it had collected refunds from the Federal Government without disclosing it to citizens, saying it had remained committed to transparency and accountability in all its financial dealings on behalf of the people.
The Commissioner for Finance, Chief Fidelis Tilije, made this known at a news conference in Asaba, while addressing the issues of 13 per cent derivation arrears payment to oil-producing states raised by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers at the weekend.
Tilije, who was in company with Commissioner for Special Projects, Chief Henry Sakpra and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, said contrary to the “revelation’’ by Wike, Delta had only received N14.7 billion in three quarterly installments of N4.9 billion each.
According to him, the total amount due to the State from the 13 per cent derivation arrears is N240bn out of which the Federal Government agreed to pay in quarterly installment for a period of five years.
“With the agreed amounts settled, some states like Rivers approached commercial banks and discounted theirs in full and collected, but Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa said he would not want to leave the next administration with a huge debt burden.
“He resorted to discounting only N150 billion out of the N240 billion expected receivables but later pruned it down to N100 billion.
“So far, we have got N14.7 billion in three quarterly installments and we have also accessed N30 billion out of the N100 billion we applied for as bridging finance,” he explained.
The commissioner stated that contrary to the impression given by Wike that previous administrations in the country refused to pay the money to the oil-producing states, the discovery of the outstanding funds was made by current commissioners for finance in the Niger Delta states.
“The present Commissioners for Finance of the nine Niger Delta states looked into the books of the NNPC and discovered that 13 per cent derivation was not deducted from subsidy payments and investments in priority projects by the Corporation.
“We took the matter before the FAAC and National Economic Council and got them to approve the payment in arrears to the affected oil-producing states.
“It is important to state that this was only discovered under the Buhari administration, which he subsequently approved. It is not that previous PDP administrations refused to pay. It was never discovered then neither was it brought to their notice,” he said.
Tilije also denied claims by former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, that the state government received over N60 billion on refunds for federal roads projects executed by the state.
2023: Okowa to Omo-Agege, Deltans won’t fall for your cheap lies
Delta Governor, Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, on Monday said the people of the state were too enlightened and exposed to fall for the cheap lies and propaganda being deployed by the Governorship Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
Speaking at a news conference in Asaba, Chief Press Secretary to Governor, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, said that rather than avail Deltans with his manifesto, Omo-Agege had engaged in lies to deceive Deltans, but warned that the people were very discerning and would not fall for the calumny against the governor and the State Government.
He said that Okowa never betrayed South Nigeria in becoming the vice-presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Omo-Agege was maliciously peddling.
According to him, after the emergence of the presidential candidate of the party from the North, it was automatic that his running mate will come from the South, and for this, Okowa was found worthy to be selected having met the criteria set by the Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
He lampooned the Deputy President of the Senate, Omo-Agege, on his allegations that nothing was done in the state with monies received over the years, disclosing that in his (Omo-Agege’s) Orogun community alone, the state government executed five important road projects.
“Across his Ughelli North Local Government Area, we have executed no fewer than 20 projects and across his Senatorial District, no fewer than 88 projects have been executed by the Okowa administration.
“Let him tell Deltans what he has achieved from the Federal Government where he sits as the second-in-command at the Senate.
“It is on record that the Senate where he is a prominent member has been adjudged the worst since the fourth Republic began.
“It is this same National Assembly where he presides over that watched haplessly as President Muhammadu Buhari took our debt stock to over N60 trillion. Most times, the President collected loans, which he has continued to do almost monthly, without recourse to the Senate, in blatant contravention of the law.
“The injury inflicted on Nigerians by the APC through its maladministration in the country is fresh and tough on the people, yet the party is shamelessly campaigning for another chance to lead,’’ he said.
On the issues raised by APC’s Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu and former Governor of Edo, Adams Oshiomhole, at the party’s rally in Warri on Saturday, the governor’s spokesman said “we will not join issues with Bola Tinubu and Adams Oshiomhole; they should first clear themselves on issues of identity and scandals before casting aspersions on Okowa, a man with sterling credentials.
“But, we are not surprised at the way both men spoke at the rally, because in APC, lying and abusing people are in their DNA. And, the reason is obvious frustration.’’
He said work on some of the legacy projects of Governor Okowa’s administration was still ongoing in spite of the delay in accessing the bridging finance the government sought, adding, however, that “when we finally accessed N30 billion out of it, the governor, in his transparent culture, personally disclosed it to the media.
“So, we have nothing to hide here in Delta. That is the much that the State Government has collected from the bridging finance it sought and which some persons, including Omo-Agege, had ignorantly dubbed as loan of N150 billion and have continued to peddle it.”
He said that Oshiomhole, who was sacked as national chairman of APC by chairman of his Ward in Edo, was suffering from frustration, especially after the defeats he suffered in all his battles in Edo, the worst being when he tried to stop Governor Godwin Obaseki from getting a second term.
“Hundreds of Oshiomholes and Tinubus couldn’t do anything about the battle. They lost it and it is the same way they will again lose to better option of Atiku-Okowa and the PDP,’’ Ifeajika added
‘It is artistic’, Pretty Mike reacts to the controversy that he was chaining girls and pimping them out.
Nigerian Socialite and Entrepreneur, Pretty Mike sits with Chude Jideonwo, host of #WithChude to talk about, among many other things, his many controversies – the women in chains, the alleged pregnant girlfriends, and the police arrest over his stunts.
On his decision to return to Nigeria after a long stay in the US, he said, “People were like, let’s go back to Nigeria, there’s money there, and we can help the government. We had a couple of friends that came; it was successful. And 15 of us who recently finished college figured we could pull it off. Of all 15 of us that came back, I am the only one that stuck. Some couldn’t do six months; some couldn’t do a year. Funny enough, I fell into that category the first day I came back. The first day I came from the airport, I was taken to my uncle’s place in VGC, I had spent 4 hours driving and I thought that was the height. I called my dad, I was like ‘you know what, I am on the next flight back’”
Speaking on the controversial pictures and the petition that was made against him, he said, “It just happened in an environment that doesn’t understand the act or culture because, to me, it’s art — it’s artistic. Even when a petition was written, it was stated that it was against the lady’s will, and no, it wasn’t. I sat down one-on-one with the governor because the governor asked what was going on. I mean, he also clubbed and partied before he became a governor. So, he wanted to know what was going on; The framing of the petition was that I was openly chaining girls and giving them out to guys. I pulled out my phone and showed him pictures, that we were partying, that Kiss Daniel was there, and that we were spraying money. And it’s not like I’m the first to have done it; it happens all over the parts of the world. He advised me to make an apology and not do it again”.
Reacting to the rape allegation made against him, he shares, “What she wrote about me, of course, was totally false. Just like I tell people, when you are popular with fame, you have to expect some of these things because that is what you signed up for. You didn’t just sign up for the good side- the laughter, the party, there has to be some negative vibe that comes with it – some testing and trying period. It helps you develop emotionally and mentally, why put yourself in depression?”
“For me, I think I have thick skin. Over the years, I developed one not to pay attention to ‘haters’”, he added.
Pretty Mike also addressed the rumour that he had six pregnant girlfriends, “You can father six kids or more, and they may not be your biological kids. I get shocked when people think the way they think. Technically, you have six girlfriends, and you impregnated them in the same month or within a period of three months. Women as notorious as they are will never agree to come and follow you in public, I don’t care how rich you are.”