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Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa who represented the presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar at the Arise presidential town hall debate left no one in doubt as to the readiness of his party to move Nigeria forward in 2023.
TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) recalls that the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar who’s far away in Morocco had formally written to the organisers that due to his absence his vice, Okowa can adequately represent him.
The Delta State Governor true to Atiku’s position delivered convincingly as he adequately tackled all questions revolving around the Nigerian economy and statehood.
On debt and the economy, Okowa said:
“From 1999 to 2007, we knew where President Obasanjo and VP Atiku, met the country and where they left it. Because of them, we were able to pay back a lot of our debt and we had debt forgiveness.”
“In Delta State, we used to have agitations in oil-producing communities. But now, we have partnered in these communities to create jobs, create a new class of entrepreneurs and show people that we care about development.”
“The right path is to use government resources to develop entrepreneurs, make people’s lives easier, and grow the economy so that people will live in better conditions.
He further explained that “it’s wrong each time we have a little crisis we get into trouble, COVID came we got into trouble because of our dependence on oil but this is wrong.
“We need to diversify our economy and all these are documented in our manifesto on how to venture into agriculture, modernise agriculture, agro processing and others in our manifesto.
On women 35percent affirmation, Okowa said this is also well captured in the party’s manifesto “as you know our women are now well trained unlike before and they are very capable in their duties.
Asked what will his party do to ensure there’s credible elections in Nigeria, the vice presidential candidate said”it’s expensive to organize elections in Nigeria and campaigns are expensive in this part of the world.
“But to get it right we must put a credible electoral system in place and once this is done voters will vote out those who could not keep their promises.
In devolution of powers, Okowa said “it’s not right for the Federal Government to collect over 50percent and at the end of the month peanuts are dished out to states.
“The local governments should be given more powers because that’s where the people are so power should be there.
On agitators such as IPOB, Boko Haram, the vice presidential candidate declared that “we will identify the genuine agitators and the criminal elements and appropriately handle the situation.
“We’ll sit with them and discuss and once they’re assured things will take shape if Nigeria is working for everybody no section will feel excluded and there will be hope for all.
Watch a short video clip below: