Ijaw Contributed Over 25% of Votes for My Re-election, Says Okowa

 

Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the Ijaw ethnic nation in the state for its great role towards his ‘resounding’ victory in the March 9, 2019, election, assuring the state that he would continue to work for the unity and equitable development of all parts of the state.

In the same vein, the state Deputy Governor, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, said God preserved elder statesman, South-south political leader and national Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, to witness the re-election of Okowa due to "the strategic role he played" in process as Okowa promised Ijaw a better deal.

Okowa and Otuaro spoke at Kiagbodo, the country home of Chief Clark, who hosted the Mr. J.T. Government-led Delta Ijaw Political Assembly (DIPA) to a celebration of victory of Okowa/Otuaro and all PDP candidates in the recently concluded general election in the state.

The ceremony was preceded by a thanksgiving service at the same venue and attended by top personalities, including Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State.

Okowa noted that Ijaw nation alone contributed more than 25 percent of votes to his victory at the 2019 gubernatorial polls.

The governor, who spoke through Hon. Tam Brisibe, Chief of Staff to the Government House, said: "This electoral gesture will not be forgotten; Ijaw will not be neglected. My administration has constructed roads in riverine areas. What we did in the Ijaw areas is small to what we'll see towards 2023. This is what Okowa asked me to tell you."

Similarly, the Bayelsa State Governor, Dickson, represented by Godknows Igali, charged Ijaw political office holders in Delta State to work closely with Okowa/Otuaro government to raise Ijaw developmental tempo.

On his part, Clark, while praying to God to strengthen Okowa and his deputy, said he was happy the Ijaw nation in Delta State was on path of political growth.

"We now have Ijawman as a deputy governor and a House of Assembly member from Warri axis where having a councilor was once difficult,” Clark said.

Otuaro, who chairs the Board of Trustees (BoT) of DIPA, said Clark revealed to him in private discussion that "he (Pa Clark) appreciates that God has kept him alive because he still has strategic role to play on the national space, the South-south region and our dear Ijaw nation."

The deputy governor further said in apparent deference to the divine assignment that Clark played a strategic role in the re-election of the Okowa/Otuaro gubernatorial ticket.

“The focus of DIPA is to consolidate the gains of the Okowa-led administration and project the Ijaw political future. We thank all, especially Pa Clark, for his support and wisdom.

"Our celebration today is occasioned by our collective commitment to the DIPA objective which we set for ourselves. As Ijaws, we resolved and spoke in one voice as evident in the votes we churned out in the Warri North, Warri South, Warri South-West, Bomadi, Burutu and Patani Local Government Areas,” he said.