Chief Press Secretary to the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, has advised Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo- Agege to leave the Governor alone and face his campaign if he has anything to offer.
Ifeajika said this at a media briefing, in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the electorate in Delta State is still comfortable with the leadership provided by the PDP since 1999.
The media aide said Deltans have enjoyed good governance as evidenced by unprecedented growth and development right from the days of Chief James Ibori in 1999 right through to the present day with Dr Ifeanyi Okowa in charge for a little over 7 years.
This, he explained, was the reason why the Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Ovie Omo-Agege, has found it difficult to campaign on issues hence his resort to attacking the person and office of Governor Okowa.
Ifeajika said, “Delta is a PDP state. The party has done so well for the state and that is why they have kept faith in the party.
“The Deputy Senate President who wants to be Governor using the platform of the All Progressives Congress which has no presence in the state is welcome to try his luck.
“However, we advise that he faces reality by addressing issues instead of trying to drag His Excellency, the Governor into his faltering campaign.
“He should note that Governor Okowa who is by God’s Grace is concluding his second term in office is not on the ballot contesting for governor in 2023.
“Omo-Agege should face his real opponent, Sheriff Oborevwori, who he knows is on the ground and is the one contesting. “
Ifeajika said it was saddening that the Deputy Senate President has chosen to spew lies against the Governor to gain cheap popularity using the issue of the N240bn Derivation Fund which the Federal Government agreed to pay the state over a five-year period.
According to him, contrary to the falsehood Omo-Agege was dishing out to the public, the initial money was N270billion but was reviewed downwards to N240 billion when Imo and Ondo States went to court to challenge the sharing formula and the matter was settled out of court.
The media aide also stressed that, unlike others, Governor Okowa elected to stick to the terms of the agreement reached with the Federal Government to collect the agreed sum in quarterly tranches.
He equally said, Governor Okowa has been transparent with state funds and had always carried the House of Assembly along unlike
President Muhammadu Buhari goes on a loan-taking spree without the Senate which Omo-Agege is part of cautioning him against doing so because of its implications for generations yet unborn.
Ifeajika advised Omo-Agege and his party the APC which he said has only one member in the State Assembly to face the challenge posed by the PDP’s formidable Governorship candidate instead of seeking to divert attention from issues under the guise of campaigns.
