Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba
The Executive Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Public Enlightenment (Projects and Policies), Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, has assured Deltans and supporters of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori that his remarkable performance in office would serve as vehicle for his re-election in 2027.
Indisputable achievements since becoming Governor in 2023 forms the strongest basis for the Deltan electorate’s overwhelming support for Governor Oborevwori’s second term bid in next year’s general election, Ifeajika declared.
Speaking on a programme, Politics HQ on News Central Television, monitored in Asaba, he stated that his support for Oborevwori goes beyond political party loyalty, but more because the governor’s achievements in Delta State were there for all to see.
Ifeajika said, “The governor of this state, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, is my project in the forthcoming general elections because we want to return him as our governor; not just because he is our party man, but because of the work he is doing in Delta.
However, he also made clarifications about the governor’s widely reported claim that his political project was to ensure the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, saying that “there is nothing contradictory about the governor supporting the President while seeking a second term for himself.”
Oborevwori, having joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), was naturally expected to support the party’s presidential candidate, he pointed out.
“He is an APC man, so he will talk about the President of Nigeria, who is of the same party with him, being re-elected. That was what he meant when he said his project is to ensure that Bola Tinubu is re-elected as President of Nigeria,” he stated.
Specifically, Ifeajika said that the APC’s strategy in Delta condistef primarily in presenting the achievements of the Oborevwori administration to the electorate and then allowing the governor’s record to speak for him.
“The performance of our governor speaks for itself. Everybody is applauding what the man is doing in the state,” he said, adding, “He’s a good product that is selling itself.”
“Even if we were not in the APC, for instance, we would have still won the election because our governor is a performing governor acknowledged by everybody in the state irrespective of political affiliation.”
Ifeajika, who rose in support of the fuel subsidy removal by President Tinubu, likened the current economic situation to farming, saying the difficult stages of clearing, planting and weeding must precede harvest.
He said, “What we are going through in this country now is like a farmer. To farm, you first clear the bush before planting, weeding and, eventually, harvesting. It takes a process!
“In this country, we knew that at some point Nigeria was borrowing money to pay for subsidy. Not the money we earned; we were borrowing money to pay for subsidy. That was so irregular.
“In this country, I am aware that between 2018 and 2019, two states in the North-Central lost so many civil servants out of hunger and starvation because they were not paid salaries for periods ranging from nine to 11 months.
“No state in this country is owing salaries anymore. Pensioners are being paid. Those times when you found pensioners lined up for screening, endless screening, with some dying in the process, you don’t find such things anymore. That era is gone.
“The issue is how the states are deploying the funds available to them to make sure that the people at the lower rungs of the society feel the impact,” he said.
He maintained that economic recovery would take time, urging Nigerians to view the current situation as part of a gradual process rather than expecting immediate results.
On the 2027 elections, Ifeajika said that the APC in Delta was focused on winning through its candidates’ records and effective communication of government policies and projects to the electorate.
He further argued that Governor Oborevwori’s achievements have clearly strengthened the relationship between the government and the people.
Ifeajika said, “Delta State is one place that the political party we are in as a ruling party is almost syn-onymous with the people. The works of the governor have been able to take the people to accept that this is the way to go, that the man feels for them and feels the right thing for the people.”