Delta 2023: Gbagi storms Bayelsa, read what Urhobos, Delta Ijaws, Isokos said as over 10,000 residents welcome him
The gubernatorial aspiration of Olorogun Barr. Kenneth Gbagi got a major push as leaders of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) in Bayelsa State received him with an overwhelming ovation.
Jubilee Hotel, along Isaac Boro Expressway, Yanegoa, was taken over by the mammoth crowd predominantly Urhobos, Isokos and Ijaws who poured in to catch a glimpse of the well renowned and endowed legal luminary and a business tycoon.
The Okobaro of Urhobo in Bayelsa, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Joshua Apoil Aweyu, who led the UPU President-General, (PG), in Bayelsa, Chief Charles Oruru Ejakpobe, other respected chiefs with over 10,000 youths, men and women, received the governorship aspirant with Urhobo songs and admirable dancing steps.
In his remarks on Sunday, April 11, 2021, the Okobaro charged all Urhobo indigenes in Bayelsa to get ready to return home for the continuous voter registration exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in order for them to cast their votes for him during the guber election.
“When the time comes for registration, we will all go home. So that after the election, when they have finished counting the votes of Delta state, they will add the one of Urhobos in Bayelsa state.
“I didn’t end there, I went to Rivers state to call them. As we are here Urhobos in Rivers state are warming up to receive you. Urhobos, get ready, when the time comes, we will all give our votes for him”, he said.
Others who spoke including Hon. Henry Tafri and Tonye Ilobolo, President, Ijaw Solidarity Forum on behalf of Deltans in Bayelsa state, threw their weight behind the aspiration of Olorogun Gbagi.
Addressing the mammoth crowd, elated Barr. Gbagi appreciated them for coming out in their large numbers to welcome him, assuring them that haven supported the incumbent governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, said: “Okowa owe the Urhobos a duty that is sacrosanct”.
Gbagi, who spoke in his dialect said: “Some persons who are trying to contest under the platform of our party are not Urhobos. You people should open your eyes very well. If you are deceived, the blame will be on you”, warning that there is difference between you owing a property and jointly owing same with others.
“As large as Delta state, there is nobody who has identity as what I have. If there is any person of such, let the person come out so that we will engage in a media debate so we can tell the world and Deltans in particular, where we are coming from and how we got there just as he assured them not to be perturbed.
He expressed confidence that he would clinch the party ticket, calling on each and everyone of them to go back home and talk with their family members and friends
He said: “In the last one year, I have started this consultation process. These people have no connection, they have been in government and have no businesses in the state.
“What wisdom and exposure do they have to govern the state? They tried to drag my name into the mud but they failed. If you want to compete with me in this governorship race, our balance sheet have to be published. They do not have what it takes to govern Delta state”.
He urged them to take the bull by the horn and change the narrative of money politics, “I present myself to you because I know I have what it takes to change the state. I will complement what Okowa has done and it will be a win-win situation for Delta”, Olorogun Gbagi declared.
