Twenty-five days to the presidential election, governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Delta State, His Excellency, Olorogun Barr. Kenneth Gbagi OON, FNIM, said it was deceitful and out of desperation for power for Ifeanyi Okowa, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Vice Presidential candidate to have, betrayed the entire southern Nigeria for his selfish ambition.
He said Okowa who read the 12-point communique in which 17 Southern governors in Nigeria, comprising South West, South South and South East met in Asaba, now known as “Asaba Declaration”, raised key issues about the future of Nigeria, and the Southern region particularly, the South producing the next president of the country was not sincere and Nigerians should not allow themselves “to be conned twice”.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, with Emerald News, Gbagi, a nationalist, stressed on the need for Nigerians to give their votes to a southern presidential candidate but not that of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, who is also a Muslim.
Hear him: “Okowa cannot be a Vice President in Nigeria and the reason is simple. I will not vote for Okowa just as he will not vote for me. But the fact here is this, deceit is deceit.
“I told Okowa if you recall, January of last year, I said Okowa should go and be president if he wants and I told him not once or twice not to lie with God’s name.
“We agreed and I bear evidence to the fact that as a former minister in Nigeria, one Muslim Northerner will rule then one Christian Southerner will rule. That is why we brought Johnathan to power.
“Johnathan was from the South and a Christian. When Johnathan finished, there was an election and Mohammadu Buhari came in. Buhari is a Muslim Fulani from the North. So the question is there was a meeting. You can go back and research on it, The meeting was hosted by Okowa.
“In the meeting Okowa read the communique that presidency remain in the South. He hosted the first southern meeting. A man who is called a governor, his television speech and everything at that meeting is still alive for everybody to go back to.
“Thereafter, he went to Enugu the same thing happened, he went to Lagos, the same thing happened. Now Christians will have to convert themselves to Muslims if they allow back to back Muslim rule. If it happens, then we are finished. I will never go to church again or believe in Christianity again.
“We all agreed this is the time of a Southern Christian to rule Nigeria. Our brothers in the North should rise up and speak the truth. And in my small arrangement, there’s only two people that qualified, Prince Adewole Adebayo of the SDP from Ondo state and Peter Obi, a Catholic like me from Anambra state.
“We cannot have a Muslim/Muslim back to back rule in Nigeria. The destruction, the evil will be inevitable. I know of course there’s this chatter of the Muslim that if a country enjoys continuous Muslim rule for 10 years, then it becomes a Muslim country.
“Every Christian that is worth his onions should do any and everything to ensure that such thing does not hold because it is our turn.
“Now hear this. Whatever monies they’re going to bring to you is your money. Eat the money, it is stolen money, and vote the right parties. Vote Gbagi for Delta state governor, vote Adebayo for Nigeria and the alternative, vote Peter Obi.
“I hear a lot of funny things. I think with the advent of social media, mad men and normal people are no longer distinguished. I see a lot of bill boards, that nauseate me. Some are written “there will be hope” what is the hope in Delta?
“Delta has become the greatest debtor in the history of Nigeria for the first time.
“If a man can destroy Delta like this, what hope does he have for the nation? What is he going to bring about? In a country where Professor Yemi Osibanjo, a First class material and SAN was not able to make any impact as a vice president, what can Okowa do?
“The Vice President is the servant of the president So, I don’t know where he thinks he’s coming from.
“We need a southerner, we need the peace of Nigeria, we need a Christian. We need to keep the resources of this country flying. We don’t want to go into strife, we don’t want to go into war”, the former minister of state for education cum largest employer of labour in the State added.
It would be recall that on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 17 Governors of the Southern States of Nigeria met in Asaba, Delta State to discuss issues of common interest.
This was not the first time Southern Governors would meet under the same roof. They are all members of the Nigerian Governors Forum –a pan-Nigeria Forum for all CEOs of Nigeria’s sub-nationals.
There is also the Progressive Governors’ Forum which is the umbrella body of the Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party in Nigeria.
There is the Northern Governors Forum. Nigeria also has the North East Governors Forum. The South West Governors Forum. The South East Governors Forum. And the PDP Governors Forum.
