A leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, High Chief Michael Johnny, has vowed that political stakeholders across all Ijaw communities in the state would do everything within their powers to ensure that all votes must count to ensure that the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, emerges as governor in the forthcoming 2023 general election.
The APC stalwart, High Chief Johnny, stated this on Sunday when Senator Omo-Agege paid him and other Ijaw APC stakeholders a consultation visit at his residence in GRA, Effurun, Delta State.
ALSO READ: Delta 2023: Ijaws in APC shelve guber interest for Omo-Agege, promise to wait till 2031
While welcoming the governorship hopeful, he charged all Ijaw sons and daughters in Delta State to come out of the position of “suffering and smiling people,” and do everything possible to secure their interest in 2023, which is their votes for a candidate that would bring development to Ijaw land.
Speaking further, he said that “in politics, everything is about your interest. And your interest is secured by your input. I strongly believe that that is what His Excellency, Omo-Agege, expects from us during the forthcoming 2023 general election.
“There is nothing difficult for us to get votes from the Ijaw area for our Senator but the unity in the Ijaw area have been destroyed. How did they do that? We were the people that gave the votes to make the PDP what it is today. Sometimes our communities produce 5000 votes.
“But these days, to destroy us, before our results get to the center, they will hijack it and rig it. Making us irrelevant in politics. So, all the Ijaws need now is for us to have a different network to send our results to, so that t would not be rigged.
“I will state it here again and quote me, there is no Ijaw Agenda in 2023. I assure you that we will stand by you and by the grace of God, we will not look at your pocket. We will come together as Ijaw people to give you all our votes.There is nobody that has monopoly of violence.
“In any Ijaw community, if it is only one person that is in the community, only that one person that will vote. There will be no AK47 votes in 2023.”
Speaking earlier, Senator Omo-Agege promised to use all the experience he garnered during his time in the Senate for Delta Central Senatorial District to develop Ijaw land and improve the lives of the people of the area if elected as governor in 2023.
He further stated that the Ijaw region in Delta State has suffered so many years of neglect from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that he has come to take the mantle of leadership to bring development to the Ijaw people.
He said “if you go to Warri today, you will weep. The question is, is Warri better off today than four years ago? If you go to Patani today, if you ask the people, are you better off today than four years ago, would they say yes? If you go to Nomadic where they have many PDP overlords that have become ancestors in Abuja.
“The question for them is that, is Bomadi better off today than four years ago? We owe our people the obligation to make our environment better than we met it. In every Urhobo land today, I am putting on street lights, installing transformers, constructing roads, and renovating hospitals and schools. I promise to do this for the Ijaw land if elected.”
By Ebi Perekeme
Support Quality Journalism in the Niger Delta Region
Join us in our mission to bring development journalism, cultural preservation, and environmental awareness to the forefront. Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. Donate today and be a part of the change!
