Mr. Alex Onwuadiamu is a lawyer. A senior advocate and believer in Delta State governor of Anioma extraction. He is also a huge supporter of Hon. Victor Ochei’s quest to govern the state.
Onwuadiam spoke to Charles Okogene on the reasons why his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), performed poorly at the just concluded governorship election in the state and on other pressing issues.
Was your party really prepared for the governorships elections in Delta State given that it was fractionized from top to bottom?
The APC Delta State did not give itself enough time to focus on the elections of 2019.
How do you react to the saying that APC has no regard for Delta North and the rotation formula given the way it recognized Ogboru, who at best, was a product of one of the factions the party was divided into?
What happened in Delta State was a miscalculation by the national leadership on the Delta State situations as regards zoning and rotation of power
What is your take on the saying that going by the way APC went into the election in the state, that it defeated itself not the PDP?
I can’t agree less
Delta North, through Okowa, has secured its second term like central and south, do you think that in terms of provision of amenities, that Delta North would by 2023, boast that if not for their son who was once a governor, the area would not have been this developed?
By 2023, I know that the entire Ika land will have a very good road network while the rest of Delta State may not be able to say the same of their road network. While roads are one of the basic infrastructures that can drive development, we need more than roads in Delta State. Our government needs to get creative in its approach to governance. We are about the richest State in Nigeria with monthly revenue of above N20 billion, yet the least developed. Looking at 2023, only time will tell. From where we are now, I think former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan still tops my chat on Anioma development. I need not remind you of Asaba, International Airport, the reconstruction of St. Patrick’s College Asaba, Ika Grammar School, Agbor, Ozoro Polytechnic, Delta State University, Abraka and many more schools that got reconstructed under that regime. The Okowa government needs to borrow a leaf from his predecessor and get a lot more creative with its development initiatives
Aside marginalization, what exactly made some of you who were already well entrenched in PDP dump it for APC and in what way have you realized your ambition?
Marginalization alone is enough for any active politician to leave a political party. If you are marginalized, you don’t have room to play your game and subsequently you become stranded. A lot of the politicians in PDP are stranded, they don’t have a political future, very soon, you will see them out of the political cage.
In terms of political fulfillment, I feel satisfied being in a party that gives me recognition and allows me expression. Like the late Gen. Maman Vatsa said, “Lean Liberty is better than fat slavery.”
Would you say that this year’s election has been transparent? Though, one can say it was relatively free and fair except Rivers State and some others?
You have said it all, “one can say it was relatively free and fair”. Analysis has been mostly partisan and I don’t want to jump into the fray; so I will rather stick by your own words that the 2019 election was relatively free and fair.
How do you think the APC Delta can resolve the problem that led to its fractionalization so as to make it a virile opposition party that will put PDP on its toes?
It is very simple. Now we have two Federal High Court judgments. I can tell you that the Jones Erue led Exco is legitimate by the consent judgment of the Abuja Federal High Court in Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/509/18 and the Cyril Ogodo Exco is also made legitimate by the Federal High Court Asaba in Suit No. FHC/ASB/CS/76/2018. With two legitimate party exco, all we need is leadership in the sense that the National Working Committee (NWC) needs to seize that initiative on very transparent and dynamic terms that will bring all the competing tendencies together under one united party leadership and certainly not as presently constituted. The active players, the drivers of the party have got to change.
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The senate leadership of the 9th assembly what is your take?
Delta State can’t be luckier than we are right now. Going by the proposed zoning arrangement for the 9th assembly, the Senate Presidency is zoned to the North East while the Deputy Senate President is zoned to the South South. With this zoning structure, we look forward to getting the Deputy Senate President position because we have two ranking Senators from the South-South, Francis Inikhena from Edo North and Ovie Omo-Agege from Delta Central. Delta State hopes to be lucky with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege in the race for Deputy Senate President. He is eminently qualified; he has been visible in the Senate, well focused, loyalist of the party and Mr. President.
Inikhena may not necessarily posses a lesser pedigree but coming from the same senatorial zone, same local government area with the National Chairman may undermined the zoning principle.
