… Says he was moved to tears over plight of DSC retirees
From Joseph Obukata, Warri
The governorship candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in Delta state, Comrade Sunny Ofehe, has expressed delight over the huge momentum his governorship candidacy has generated in Delta state, saying that he’s genuinely loved by all who want to vote out the APC and PDP in the March 11 governorship and state assembly elections.
Addressing newsmen after his campaign tour of some communities in Udu, Ughelli North and South local governments area of the state over the weekend, Ofehe said that his candidacy is what people are yearning for in the oil-rich but strife torn state.
He said that everywhere he had gone to in the course of his campaigns, the downtrodden and electorates who have been depraved of the basic things of life for years are so elated that God has sent him to contest and redeem them of shackles of poverty imposed on them.
Ofehe, who is a civil society expert and Chief Executive Officer of Netherlands-based Hope for Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC), expressed dismayed why some people can still rooting for political gladiators from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressive Congress (APC) despite how they had ran the state aground.
Ofehe said that APC as a political party deserved not to be the new government in Delta state comes March 11 because the party has failed woefully at the national level, maintaining that it governorship candidate would have nothing new to offer.
He also took a swipe at the state ruling PDP for plugging the state into huge debt with its borrowing spree that have made the state a laughing stock at the global stage.
He said; “I wonder how people can still vote PDP and APC, the two political parties that have turned our State and country into a global laughing stock where we are debt ridden and now pay to get our own currency. Its a shame! Let’s chart a new path and make our State Great again”.
He said that he was moved to tear when he met with some senior citizens who had served the state meritoriously and are owned pension in huge amount, lamenting specifically the poor living condition of pensioners of the moribund former Delta Steel Company otherwise known as Premium Steel Company Ovwain/Aladja in Udu council area.
“My campaign do not hire and pay for crowd like the big political parties normally do. We attract Deltans who fall in love with our message and vision for the State.
“My goal is to identify with the poor, impoverished and vulnerable citizens of our State who have been deprived of the basic needs of life. The people who have suffered from corrupt and poor leadership over the years.
“We took our campaign to Otor-Udu, Aladja, Uwhenwe, Agbarha-Otor and Ovirhe defying the heavy rain. I had the great privilege to fraternise with the young and old women and men. I promised to serve them and lift them out of darkness, lack of clean drinking water, provide health care clinics and provide them education”, he added.
While soliciting the electorates across the three senatorial district of the state to vote for him, Ofehe said that when elected in March 11, he would direct his policy thrust on how he can build the middle-class, maintaining that no government can function properly without the middle-class.
He said that building of roads, hospitals, schools which are often celebrated by most Nigerian governors as achievement would not be celebrated in his administration because those were the minimum any responsible government should offer her people adding that quality healthcare for pregnant women, children and the unborn baby will top his policies and programmes.
Ofehe said that his policy thrust would also be tailored towards agricultural and industrial revolution in the state, adding that he would alleviate the standard of governance by ensuring that civil servants who are the engine room of any government are well placed as well as ensuring that the downtrodden feels the impact of government.