The governorship hopeful, who was a former minister of Education for state, put forth the challenge on Wednesday April 7th 2021, while fielding questions from journalists at the temporary secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council.
“The EFCC just released a pointer that anybody who wants to contest election should come with his balance sheets, I am ready with my own. Journalists should not support me but if you find out that the man you are supporting is criminally minded, he has nothing to offer and that the only houses or house that he has built is in Okowa’s government, we will not agree because I am a stakeholder”.
While extolling the sterling leadership qualities of the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the gubernatorial aspirant, said: “This man Okowa, if you don’t know him, is one of the greatest politicians of our time.
“Okowa will not hand over the state to anybody that will not build on his legacies. He will never want the state to go back again because we have seen what good eight years can mean and what bad eight years can mean”.
He further challenged rumour carriers to prove their cases against him, “If they say I have a case, let the police invite me. I am the 42nd minister in Nigeria, all 41 of the Jonathan’s government were invited, stripped and money were taken from but nobody called me.
“When I declared my assets as a minister, I declared about 117 vehicles. So, the man who was the chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau asked me what do I want to do as a minister and I said, its service”.
While resounding his determination to go into the 2023 governorship race, the industrialist said: “It is only a fool that knows that he is the best material in a class and at the day of examination, he runs away. I am proud of what I have, I am proud of my records, I have no hidden records anywhere.
“I have come out and I have looked at Delta state clinically, I do not see anybody who can present a clean record of his finances of what he has done and where he has been”, disclosing that he planned to join the contest in the last 35 years.
