Ben Dunno, Warri
Ijaw indigenes in Delta Central and South Senatorial district have been charged to embrace the ongoing one man-one vote movement across the country in order to be relevant in determining the direction of the country’s leadership at both state and national levels.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship hopeful in Delta state, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, made the call in Burutu, the headquarters of Burutu Local Government Area, while on a consultation visit to party faithfuls in the area as part of his campaign.
Addressing a gathering of party members and other political parties defectors, Dr. Ojougboh rallied the people of the state to get rid of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the ruling party in the south-south Nigerian state.
Receiving a decamping chieftain of the PDP, Sir Theodore Ezonfade, the APC aspirant said the PDP government in the state had mortgaged the financial future of Deltans, accusing the Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration of not spreading the commonwealth to all Deltans.
The governorship hopeful, who assured the people of sticking to an agreement of serving only one term if elected governor, explained that he would do this because he believed in the sanctity and political harmony of the state and because of his broad view to life.
Speaking on the entrance of Sir Ezonfade, who is the National Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), into the APC, Ojougboh noted that it was significant to mention that the party had become an Ijaw party, saying “anybody who tells you otherwise is a liar. APC is now an Ijaw party.
“We have a very good chance of winning in 2019, and the best way to win is to make sure we stop corruption. The worst corruption is that of the electoral process. If your vote doesn’t count, there’s no need to hold the election, therefore we must all key into the campaign that is ongoing; one man, one vote,” he said.
“We must change this government and one of the reasons we must change it is corruption. My idea of leadership and politics is that the commonwealth should touch on every member of the state so that everyone can be happy; but in this case, it’s only Okowa and those around him that are happy because they have cornered the commonwealth to themselves,” he complained.
In his speech at his reception, Ezonfade, who decamped with his followers, said he felt the need to leave the PDP for the APC because of the party’s lack of vision for the people of Burutu council area, saying that there was nothing to point at as the work of the PDP-led administration.
He added that the people of Burutu had so far suffered from a lack of legislative representation, both at the state and the federal levels, regretting that the two members representing the two constituencies of Burutu in the Delta State House of Assembly, as well as the one occupying the seat at the House of Representatives, had failed to give real representation to the people, adding “I believe the APC will erase all these lapses.”