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| Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, Delta state 2023 governorship hopeful. |
By Chukwudi
Abiandu
The race to
replace Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in Government House, Asaba in 2023 has begun in
earnest with Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi declaring yesterday, Tuesday, November 13,
2019, his interest to contest for the plum position.
Speaking to
journalists in his elaborate country home in Oginibo town, Ughelli South Local
Government of Delta State at a lunch get together he had with them, said: “I
have declared my intention to contest the governorship position of Delta state,
and I have started consultations leading to 2023.”
Answering
question from journalists on whether it is not too early for him to declare
interest to contest an election that will hold in 2023, Olorogun Gbagi said: “I
don’t need to stay back in government so I can collect some more allowances enough
to enable declare my interest for the election now. Those who may be nursing
the idea,
but cannot come out to declare can continue to remain in government
to collect their allowances; I don’t need to collect allowances from government
before I can declare my intention to run because I am not in government. At the
appropriate time we shall separate the men from the boys.
“I said I
want to be governor, and I have begun consultations. I have been a reputable
businessman with integrity, and I have the bullet (means) to run for governor.”
Gbagi said he
has always depended on the laudable training given to him by his late father,
who taught him work to be able to always
stand on his own in any situation, and that that training he has held on to and
has been invaluable to him in life.
“I have
never done state of Federal Government’s contract job in my life. I don’t
believe in it,” he said.
On claims
from the Ijaw end of the Delta South Senatorial district that it is their turn
to run for governorship since almost all the ethnic nationalities making Delta
State have had a shot at the position, Olorogun Gbagi said: “We did not zone
the governorship of the party to tribes. We zoned it to senatorial districts.
Now that it is the turn of the Central we shall go for it.
‘But we
alone as people from the Central cannot make the governorship happen by
ourselves. We must work together with other senatorial zones in other to make
it.”
Asked his
response on agitations that it is the turn of the Okpe in the Delta Central
senatorial district to have the governorship, Gbagi said: “My father is from
Udu in Ughelli North Local Government, and my mother is from Ethiope East Local
Government. I was brought up in Sapele. When I go to Sapele you can’t beat me.
I am too matured and too principled to be taken in by such claims. In Sapele, I
am the biggest investor in that constituency.
“I am ready
to challenge any one from the Uvwie constituency, and I will beat them all.”
On how he
hopes to get the endorsement of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the umbrella
socio-cultural union of the Urhobo, the governorship hopeful said: “ We have
looked at the issue of UPU, and we must be careful. UPU came out and said Okowa
cannot be governor, but today Okowa is governor.
“Upu are not
politicians. They are custodians of Urhobo people. We are politicians.”
Olorogun
Gbagi pointed out that he had never contested any election previously, and that
this his quest for the governorship in 2023, his chances are bright. “My
chances are bright. I have planned for 24 years for this, and I did not plan to
fail. Wait until that time comes and you will see. In this business, there is
no room for children who are still using pampers.”
On what he
has in stock for the people of the state should he become governor, he said: “A
better Delta is my agenda for the state.” He said he will work on the drain; “I
will work to provide jobs for the jobless in Delta. I will tender my
resignation if I become governor and you did not see me do do the drains, and
give jobs to the people.
“ I spend
between N15million to N18million monthly to pay salaries to workers . There is
a lot to do to turn around the jobless situations, depending on how you want to
do it,” Gbagi said.
He decried
the attitude of youth to investors and their investments, saying that it is
this bad attitude that has driven investors away, which made them to quite the
areas in Delta state to elsewhere. “Today, who are those suffering it?, Gbagi asked.
He pointed
out for instance that there are over 360 Nigerians from other states flown into
Delta State on daily bases, who come to do business. “And they go away; they
don’t pay tax here in Delta State. We are lucky to have a man like Okowa as
governor, who took measures to create peace and conducive environment for
business out fits to thrive. Blowing up pipelines does not pay,” Olorogun Gbagi
said.
Asked whether
he belongs to the nucleus group believed to be the group that anoints candidates
for governorship in the state, Gbagi said: “I founded PDP. Forget about all
that you heard or may have been told, I was a founder of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP). I am contesting the election by the grace of God on the platform
of the PDP.”
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