Delta Youths Protest Okowa’s Senate Ambition, Alert EFCC

Leaders from the nine local government areas of Delta North Senatorial District and over hundreds youths, under the aegis of the Coalition of Delta North Youths, have rejected the ambition of the immediate past governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, to the Senate.

The group in Agbor, appealed to President Bola Tinubu as the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to allow the ticket of his party to be given to the former governor.

The leader of the coalition, Barr Benjamin Ofor Atagana, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to treat the petition of N13 trillion that was allegedly misappropriated during Okowa’s tenure, warning that the petition should not be committed to the dustbin because the former governor has defected to the APC.

Supported by others, including the vice president of the Movement for the Emancipation of Anioma Nation, Aghulor Okoh, the coordinator of One Voice for Anioma Nation, Oskar Chukwuwike and Kingsley Kainebi, leaders from the nine LGAs, making up Delta North, they asked the former governor to clear himself of the corruption allegations before he can seek any political office.

While urging members of the Traditional Rulers’ Council to steer clear of politics but concern themselves with the interest of their subjects and preservation cultural heritages, they vowed to mobilise across Delta North to resist him.

“Dr Okowa should face his N13 trillion petition with EFCC. Until he has purged himself of this allegation, he should not be allowed to stand election in Nigeria.

“2027 election will amount to a charade and oligarchy, not democracy, if a man who is yet to answer to accusation of N13 trillion should participate in election. We reject Okowa and his ambition. We didn’t beg him to return to Senate. It is his selfish interest and the people he handpicked into office.”

“Opposition parties should resist the temptation of giving the flag of their party to Okowa. We will genuinely support any candidate that have credible records in public service. This is not a campaign of calumny but a genuine call against father and daughter occupying elective positions at the expense of others in the senatorial district.

“While Dr. Okowa himself pursues the Delta North senatorial seat, his daughter, Hon. Marilyn Okowa-Daramola, is simultaneously seeking to return to the Delta State House of Assembly. This is not a coincidence; it is a calculated attempt to institutionalize a family dynasty in a democratic state.

“In healthy democracies, political power circulates among citizens of diverse backgrounds, giving every community a sense of ownership over governance. What the Okowa family is attempting is the concentration of power and representation within a single household, locking out thousands of qualified, patriotic, and competent sons and daughters of Delta North who aspire to serve their people.

“Nepotism is not a family value; it is a governance failure. When a father controls executive power for eight years and then positions himself for legislative power while his daughter occupies an elective office, the democratic process has been corrupted at its roots. The Coalition of Delta North Youths will not be silent accomplices to this travesty,” Atagana said.