My Principal has received several threat messages – Aide to DPP Assembly hopeful

Mr. Ese Jerry .D. Azakaza is the Publicity Secretary to House of Assembly hopeful, Prince Odjuwu Okumagba. He recently spoke exclusively to our Senior Correspondent, Omonigho Matthew in Warri on the aspiration of his boss as well as other issues surrounding the political situation in Delta State as the April polls draw near.

Excerpt:

Let’s meet you….

I am Mr. Ese Jerry .D. Azakaza

Give us a brief history of the political life of your principal, Odjuwu Okumagba

I’ve been in the race for positive change in Delta State governorship tussle and indeed leadership generally as it affects the democratic tenets. But by and large, we know that for quite sometime now, Delta has not been able to have a proper representation. The point I am trying to raise here is that I have a resume in terms of understanding my role in the political affairs of Delta State, my political history dates back 2003 under the Alliance for Democracy. I happened to be the Ward Secretary of Okumagba I, ward II in 2007 and I was also Campaign Manager to a House of Assembly aspirant. Thereafter, I became the State Secretary for the Democratic Peoples Party.

Presently, I am the Publicity Secretary for Okumagba Odjuwu Campaign Organization and incidentally, I double as the first Assistant Secretary in Warri South local government in the party. I have just given a resume to reflect the fact that the young man in question whom you have requested to know has been able to put together.

The man, who built a house, could have made history and the one who destroys the house, could also have made history. This means that there’s positive and negative historical change and he wants to be a part of the historical positive change in Warri South Constituency II in particular. He has been able to put together energetic, young, talented, formidable and vibrant persons in his campaign team. When I was invited, I saw it as an opportunity to serve because the elements I perceive in him, actually proved itself towards the young man and to a very large extent, the Democratic Peoples Party.

What plans do your principal, Prince Odjuwu Okumagba have for the people of Warri South constituency if voted into office?

We are going to give a white blanket analysis as to what we intend to do. It will be dangerous to mention things that you cannot fulfill, that is one of the cardinal reasons why we want Hon. Dennis Omovie out of that place or not to go back. Because if he had delivered dividends of democracy we would still as much as possible want to work with him. We don’t look at the party in question. Sometimes, we try to go beyond the spectrum and look at the individuals, how competent these persons are. Some people have been talking about experience. But I have not seen anywhere in the world where experience is only gotten by being in a particular place for long without peoples consent. My principal is the best person that displayed the character to deliver the dividends of democracy to constituency II in Warri South. He is not just the son of the soil, even though there’s some relationship with the Omovies. He is more of an aborigine if I have to use that word and we know the pain of Constituency II. I can tell you that if you go round most of the streets in Okumagba lay-out, you can’t see any democracy dividends from the time Omovie got into the House. As we speak, he does not even have where his constituency members bring questions of what they expect of him. These things will be put in place by my principal by the time he gets into office in April. Above all, Warri South constituency II has something good coming in April.

I hope what you have just said is not to get vote of electorates and at the end, they are abandoned?

No! We cannot crave for support of persons only to give them the same pains they have experienced for over eight years, it will be proper for me not to even be in the team, let me inform you that we have been able to consult widely. Before some of us were called into this campaign structure, we had to X-ray several variables and equally pose some questions which are not meant for the public.

On the issue of zoning, what is the stand of your principal?

If we have to look at the zoning principle from a very wide spectrum, it is to placate those who see themselves as deprived. He is one person who believes in live and let’s live. But as a matter of fact, while you consider zoning, you must also consider credibility in the kind of person that will represent you. We can not say because you are going to zone, if a particular section has not been able to deliver the dividends of democracy then we must let it be, it would amount to nothing.

What is your take on the just concluded re-run election in Delta State as conducted by Professor Attahiru Jega led INEC?

I will quickly not just want to settle for 6th of January 2011, I will rather start by x-raying events prior to January 6th. You will recall that there was massive protest in all the senatorial districts of Delta State that INEC should make public the voters’ register before conducting the election and there were arguments that Delta State should be used as a litmus test to ascertain the workability of the DDC machines. But the insistence of Jega to go ahead with the election on the 6th of January, underscores the fact that Prof. Jega’s character is questionable as against what we were told. Off course that was the reflection of what we got, because INEC is an extension of PDP as far as we are concerned and that is why they helped to inflate figures in some of the local governments, particularly in Warri North where you and I know that even the number they gave don’t reflect the population of eligible voters.

You alleged that the rerun election was marred, so what step is your party guber candidate making to forestall a reoccurrence?

The man is an individual, he is running under a political party and as such he can’t be everywhere at the same time. But I can tell you that beyond him the party has put machineries in place. First and foremost, we are doing our best to ensure that the voters’ registration is without hitches, even though we have experienced some certain challenges since it took off. We want to say that the exercise is a total fiasco. Actually the DDC thing is alien to Nigeria, hence hitches are expected at the initial start. But by and large, that was why we opted that Delta State should have been a very good test case because we hadn’t exhausted the 90days given by the Appeal Court sitting in Benin for the rerun. Jega would still have gone to court to appeal for an extension and there would have been nothing wrong in that direction. Sadly, INEC’s voters’ registration ought not to be monitored by any individual or group let alone political parties, but because of the sad experiences that have taken place in Nigeria and by extension in Delta State, the party has been able to put machineries on ground to ensure the monitoring of the exercise to ensure that those who are registering are eligible to vote and not under-age as it were in 2006/2007 registration.

What is your assessment of Dr. Uduaghan’s administration thus far?

There are two sides to a man’s life and there are two sides to almost everything. One is either going to be alive or one is going to be dead. To that extent, we can’t say that the man didn’t put a pin on the ground. If you go by the resources that have come to the state for the period he has been in office, there’s no reflection of the dividends of democracy. It therefore means if one is to score him, I will say that he has failed abysmally and has no moral justification. Sadly, this is not an advanced nation where people resign because the electorates didn’t want them before the law catches up with them.

The battle in the ground now has gone beyond the Democratic Peoples Party, our State Chairman has branded it Delta Peoples Party, which means, it is a change that is blowing across Delta State and this change must come ultimately. Change doesn’t come over night, particularly positive change, it goes with pains and certain things. But because this man has failed, he has pumped so much money into the Asaba International Airport. Up till now what you see there is a desert. He has failed Deltans generally and has no moral justification to come back.

In fact, the Uduaghan PDP reformist have all defected to DPP, some of them are on the back burner, while some are taking partisan responsibilities in the party and even running for elective positions. A good example is Barr. Akpo Pius Ewherido, former Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, who got the ticket to run in the Senate for Delta Central and Edirin Idisi who is running for House of Representatives. With these persons who are not just DPP members, but those who have come to reform the system, I can assure you that the PDP administration in Delta State is a foregone issue.