By Sunday Ani
Dr Akpomudiare Justin, an Ughelli stakeholder in Delta State, has alleged that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Delta State governorship election, was rejected by the people at the polls for several reasons, including his direct involvement in the theft of the National Assembly mace and his past records in the United States of America.
According to Dr Justin, “He was convicted for forgery on November 30, 1995, and on April 12, 1998, the state bar court issued an order suspending him from practising law in California for two years, effective from May 30, 1996.”
Dr Justin also stated that Omo-Agege’s involvement in the theft of the National Assembly mace made him a “poster boy for all the policy missteps and governance mishaps of the APC regime in the eyes of Deltans,” and that his failings as a deputy senate president became the failings of the government in the eyes of voters.
Furthermore, Dr Justin attributed Omo-Agege’s rejection at the polls to the hardship that the naira redesign policy brought to Nigerians, as well as other hardships imposed by the APC-led Federal Government, including fuel queues and severe insecurity.
Dr Justin claimed that Omo-Agege neglected other communities within his senatorial district of Delta Central and concentrated most of the constituency benefits in his hometown of Orogun, deviating from the even development template for Urhoboland laid down by the late Chief Mukoro Mowoe.
Dr Justin also accused Omo-Agege of personal ambitions and vengeful desires that worked against the interest of the illustrious sons of Delta State, including Richard Odibo, Mike Igini, Great Ogboru, and Chief Joe Omene. “It, therefore, did not come as a surprise that he was rejected at the polls by most Deltans because of [these reasons],” Dr Justin concluded.