2019: Ofehe Appeals To Emerhor, Omo-Agege To Harmonise Ahead Party Primaries

Chief (Comrade) Sunny Ofehe, a frontline governorship aspirant in Delta state has urged leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) including Olorogun Otega Emerhor, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and others to start the reconciliation process, saying it was time to harmonise and prepare ground to confront the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general election.

Ofehe spoke on Sunday when he led his campaign team and some foreign partners on a courtesy call on Delta APC leader, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor in his country home, Enwreni, Ughelli North Council Area.

Speaking at the event in which Emerhor was represented by Barr Fred Olokor, Ofehe said that leaders of various block of the party must bury the hatchet of the past and forge a formidable forge ahead the primaries.

“I see the need for APC to take over this state. I see the need for everyone of us to work together to deliver this state for APC, adding, there is power in unity”.

The Netherlands-based activist-turned-politician however urged Emerhor and other party leaders to ensure a level playing field for all governorship aspirant, saying that anyone who is interested in the race should be allow to go into the field and whoever emergences should be adequately supported without ill-feelings.

According to him, it is a fact that the internal wrangling occasioned by the divided congresses has punched a dig hole in the party political machinery but the leaders can heal the wounds if they put party interest above personal interest.

“You will agree with me that we have been battling a divided house. And I want to use this opportunity to make something clear; I’m not in any of the camps because I am for the unity of the party”.

Ofehe said that he decided to visit Emerhor whom he holds in high esteem as a leader of the party because he believe he has the capacity to genuinely initial the reconciliation process.

According to him, while the wrangling lasted, he decided not to pitch tent to any of the tendencies because as an aspirants he believe his aspirations would cover everyone, bridge the disunity gap, reconcile the people and therefore didn’t want to join camps.

Ofehe noted that his attendance of one of Congresses earlier held on Saturday facilitated by other party leaders including Senator Omo-Agege was because of the exigencies of his scheduled, believing that the Delta APC as one party would harmonise no matter where one belong at that time.

“During the last state Congress, some of you must have misinterpreted my attendance of the Saturday Congress. What actually happened was that I already had a meeting scheduled in Europe on a Wednesday so when I was coming, everybody including myself knew the Congress was going to take place on a Saturday so I have ready fix my return ticket to Europe for Monday night.

“So when we had this parallel Congresses in which one took place on Saturday and the other on Monday, I could only make myself present for the one of Saturday so I couldn’t attend the Monday one.

“However I mandated some of my people to also make themselves present for the Monday one. So my physical attendance of the Saturday one didn’t in any way put me in the camp of anybody.

“But the most important thing is that we would unite because in disagreed we get agreement and we will come together because if our house is divided then we are giving Okowa-led PDP a smooth run to a second term which will hypnotize our people for another four year of doom and great recession”.

Ofehe said that he’s in the race because he cannot continue to watch infrastructure decay in Delta state as a civil society organisation expert after leaving in Europe for close to 23 years when there are hundreds of windows of opportunities that the state can tap into.

“We are from a state that has enormous natural resources and huge human capacity. We have the highest tertiary institutions in the whole of the country which we should be proud of, therefore we have very intelligent, very smart youths who are roaming the streets, even some still sleeping under their parent’s roof after graduation because of no job.

“We can do more in our infrastructure, we can do more in our marine sector, we can do more in our healthcare sector, we can do more in our construction sector and all of these can create job for our people.

Continuing, Ofehe said, “I am standing for this race, knowing fully well that I am not the only one who is competing and the beauty of democracy is to create an enabling environment for a just competition among every contestants.

While saying that zoning and power rotation should be discourage for Nigeria nascent democracy to grow, the Delta state APC governorship aspirant said, “I want to appeal to this house, and I know some of you have clearly supported the issue of zoning and rotation, deciding that the governorship position has to go to a certain senatorial district.

“I am not here to solicit for your support for myself because if I do that, I would be greed and selfish but I want to leave this house with something; that the joy of democracy is to create an enabling environment for everyone who is running for the number one office to go to the primaries and compete and let the people, the delegates choose who they think would truly represent their interest.

He said that if the APC leaders agreed to throw the governorship position open to all ethnic nationality and whoever want to run to go into the primaries, the healing process of the internal wrangling would have started from there.

“If we begin to propagate that; that would be the beginning of the healing process for our internal democracy in APC.

“I want to assure you that for those of you who many decide to support me, in you I will make this state proud, in you I will make it an added value.

“I can confidently stand here and tell you that my international network of civil society organisations to business community is overwhelming. You can hold me to these.

“Therefore, I have the capacity better than anyone I will be competing with in this current race to bring in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the state that would create jobs for our people. That would allow the economy to flow with influx of credit facilities that wouldn’t cost the state to take from their treasury.

“We have policies in place in Europe that are begging to be utilise in third world countries, in underdeveloped countries in which Nigeria is also included. And top of that, I have so much experience within the United Nations, European Union and all other regional and international organizations because of my position as a civil society organizations expert.

“I have attended severally international events that everybody keep asking what can we do to stop your gas flare, what can we do to remediate your environment, what can we do to torch the lives of the poor people who are being affected by oil extraction in your area.

“We want to help and most time I have talked to some people that I know in government here, offering them the opportunity but unfortunately they have never hearkened into them and that was one of the motivation for me to run for the office of the governor.

“If you truly and genuinely seek a change that would touch you, our seniors, youths and all our elderly people it is time for you to choose this young man. And if I fail you I have failed my state, if I fail, I have failed people like this (Dutch nationals) who have come to believe in me.

“Do not forget that Nigeria as a country has a bad image and reputation internationally and for people like this to have come and say we want to see your people, we want to see your environment so that when you design your policies we can be able to have our input in a way that would turn around the lives of the people in your society.

“My leaders, I want to end on this note that please in all that you do, we understand that money is involved in politics but money should not be use to evaluate my capacity because as a young man I have never had any public office in this country. As I stand here I do not even have a registered company in their country…

“If APC and indeed all of you who have sacrifice to make the party what it is today would genuinely, sincerely with all consciousness want to provide and present a candidate who can give Okowa a run for his money, a candidate who can stand up anywhere, anytime and make you proud, give you the impetus to say in this candidate we can defeat PDP, then you have one standing before you right now addressing you.

“On this note, I want to say that I join this party just last year and before then this party has been existing, thanks to people like you and thanks to people like Olorogun Otega Emerhor and that’s why he will always remain my leader in this party as far as this state is concern.

“In all of my consultations at the national level, his name has been mentioned severally and whenever we speak on phone I can perceived his humility, his humbleness and the way he talks and in that I see a leader and people like that I want to make proud.

“The sacrifice you all have made to make the party what it is today, I’m only coming to complement that and stand upon that podium to shout out to the world that it is time for everyone to join me, to join my team to Fix Delta, he concluded.

Responding, Emerhor who was represented by Barr Olokor said that as a leader, and in conjunction with the party leadership, he was committed to provide a level playing field for all aspirants so that the choice of the people can represent the party in all positions in the next election.

He said that they were working hard to capture the state from PDP hence “rescue Delta” has been a catchword for members of the party during meetings and therefore assured Ofehe that the party would make it ease for him and others in the race to navigate the process of governing the state.

Ofehe was accompanied in the visit by Dutch nationals, Pepijn van den Hoogenband CEO TRINCO Development who led other multinational companies Chief Executive Officers including Andre Sprengelmeijer CEO Sprengelmeijer Trucks Export Company, Christiaan Dekker, CEO Dekker Heavy Equipment & Dredging among others.