Delta State Government on Tuesday advised All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate in the state, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, to desist from telling lies to hoodwink unsuspecting Deltans into supporting his already failed ambition.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, at a news conference in Asaba, said no amount of lies and propaganda deployed by the APC candidate would secure the governorship of the state for him and his failed party.
Aniagwu, who was with the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, said the state government would not fold its hands and allow Omo-Agege to use lies and bogus promises to deceive Deltans into voting APC in the general elections.
He stated that Nigerians were still grappling with the lies told by the APC to come to power in 2015 and would not allow the Deputy President of the Senate to deceive Deltans into voting a party that lacked leadership and governance skills.
According to him, the attitude of Omo-Agege was becoming worrisome even when we had advised him before to tell Deltans what he would do for them because we acknowledged that it was his democratic right to aspire to be Governor in 2023.
Aniagwu, however, said in doing so, it would not be wise for him to take the intelligence of Deltans for granted because the best way to speak to Deltans was to tell them the truth.
“You cannot ride to occupy the Government House on the altar of lies because governance these days cannot be carried out the way they thought it was done in the past.
“You will recall in 2015 that the APC rode on a mantra of change and unfortunately every element of that change has turned out to be total lies.
“You are all witnesses to the fact that none of the promises made has been fulfilled; so, to want to deploy same old trick of well-laced lies and make them look like the truth to aspire to become the Governor of Delta is not acceptable to our people”, the Information Commissioner maintained.
On allegations of borrowing by the state government, the Commissioner said Omo-Agege lacked requisite knowledge and credibility to question Governor Okowa on borrowing as he jointly superintended a National Assembly that was notorious for approving frivolous loans to President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government.
“If we want to talk about professionals in borrowing you will be talking about the APC-led Federal Government where Omo-Agege sits as number two in the Red Chamber where several billions of dollars were approved arbitrarily and borrowed even when they have not translated to the life, welfare and well-being of Nigerians.
“The funds that we sought before now, we made it very clear the reason why we wanted to take the bridging finance facility because we had monies owed us by the Federal Government.
“We needed the facility in order to move against the tide by ensuring that the fluctuations that characterized our economy, particularly our currency, does not catch up with what we were expected to earn.
“As we speak, the Federal Government has not been able to remit what is supposed to come to us quarterly and on the basis of that we have not been able to access that bridging finance facility.
“For all the loans we sought we have always explained what we wanted to do with them and on this bridging finance we were very clear on the need for us to tackle issues of pension and completion of some key ongoing projects”, he stated.
On another allegation that the Okowa administration had no projects to show for the past seven years, Aniagwu slammed Omo-Agege for being economical with the truth.
He said there was peace in the state because the state government had taken development to hitherto abandoned oil-producing communities.
The Commissioner challenged Omo-Agege to take a tour of communities in his local government area, especially the Agbarho-Orherhe bridge and road, Arhagba-Orogun Township roads Ogbe-Ikolobie road, Imodje-Orogun road and the recently awarded Orogun bypass, all in his community.
“The Emevor-Orogun road recently approved by Exco is in the process of being awarded. Once in a while he flies into the Asaba Airport and he knows what we have done there; so, he cannot come and tell lies and think that will catapult him to the Governnent House.
“Let him go and unfold his programmes because Deltans are very much informed for anyone to take them for a ride.
“Let him focus on his programmes and projects and if he must look at our direction let him stay on the path of facts because anyone who wants to govern Delta, irrespective of political party, must come with clean hands”, he stated.
On the successes recorded by Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo on oil theft, Aniagwu said it was a clear justification of the state government’s earlier position for the Federal Government to engage locals in the security of oil facilities and infrastructure.
Aniagwu also commented on the situation in the eleven IDP camps across the state, where he said government had ensure adequate accommodation, feeding and medicare of displaced flood victims.
He, however, clarified that government would not give money to anyone in the camps, except that they would be mobilized at the point of going back to their homes, when the floods would have receded, to enable them pay their fares and take care of immediate pressing needs before bouncing back to normalcy.
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