Ifeanyi Okowa, who used to be the governor of Delta State, says that Senator Ned Nwoko is lying to the public about the plan to make Anioma State.
He also questioned the timing of the ongoing talks about creating new states, saying that the current legislative calendar makes such proposals impossible.
He said that bringing up the issue at this point could be seen as lying to the public. He also said that any decision about Anioma State would ultimately depend on an agreement between the people and the government.
Okowa said this while talking to APC members in the Oshimili South Local Government Area during a meeting about his goal of becoming a senator.
Osaai Ovie Success, the Delta state governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, posted the video on Facebook on Wednesday.
Okowa said that people from the area are not against the idea of creating Anioma State and that he does not oppose it.
He did, however, stress that the proposed state must be based on what the people want as a whole.
He said that the Anioma State that stakeholders are pushing for should include the nine local government areas in Delta North, which is in the South-South geopolitical zone, and Asaba should be its capital.
Okowa spoke out against what he called attempts to change Asaba’s status as the capital of Delta State. He said these moves were wrong and didn’t take into account the historical efforts that went into making Asaba the capital.
He said, “There’s one thing that I haven’t talked about in public, and I need five minutes to do so: the issue of Anioma state.” They have a lot of wrong ideas. A lot of false information about Anioma state has been spread on social media.
“No Anioma son, I don’t think there’s any Anioma son who doesn’t want Anoma state to be created, not me as people try to make it seem. But the Anioma we want must be the one that everyone wants.
“And the Anioma we want, the will of the people, is the Anioma made up of nine local governments in Delta North that will be based in the South South geopolitical zone, with Asaba as the capital.
“An Asaba daughter fought for us, and now the capital of Delta state is in Asaba.” Today, someone who doesn’t understand how it happened suddenly wants to wish away that headquarters.
“It’s awful, and it shouldn’t be, because common sense should have told him that what he’s doing is wrong.”
“We know how important the headquarters are. And with God’s help, Asaba is growing beyond what is possible. Asaba’s growth will never be stopped again.
“It’s important to stay in touch with your people when you’re going after something. That’s why I talked about consultation and a consultative presentation.” You need to know what most people want. But if you think you know everything, you will go the wrong way.
“I want to make it very clear that if you know the legislators’ schedule, you will know that we are already a quarter of the way there.” It’s clear that talking about state creation now is meant to trick you. We don’t want any lies.
“Anioma State, by the special grace of God, we will keep deciding, but when it happens, it will be a decision made by all of our people.” And everyone in Anioma and the current government will stand up and say we want this. And it’s possible.
