Chief Okiemute Oviri, hails from Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State and is a  member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  but in recent times he has been seen working for the Democratic Peoples Party (PDP). The Warri  business mogul speaks on the reason  he is working across party divides to deliver for DPP,  among other issues.

I knew you to be a PDP member, why the sudden support for DPP in Delta?

I did not at anytime defect to the Democratic Peoples Party, I am not their member, I am a core-member and native of PDP. What I am currently doing is just a matter of working across political divides because of the way they are operating in PDP. We know former Governor James Ibori is not here today, but he built the house which Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and his men cannot sustain.

Some persons have been advising me to remain in PDP on the grounds  that we built it together. There is no way someone can stay in a house where the whole roof is open. We are going to work across political parties to deliver Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru. I will remain in PDP and work to deliver him because we are tired of Uduaghan’s administration.

I know after Ogboru’s victory, he will decamp to PDP to work for President Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo joint ticket. We are working across party divides  for transparency to come to stay in the state. We want someone who will take us to the promised land and we have seen that in Chief Ogboru whose name  has changed to the ‘Joshua of Delta State’.

Are  your followers thinking in the same direction?

They are thinking in the same direction with me. One of the problems Uduaghan had was the appointment of non-politicians into his cabinet. Most of the commissioners in the state did  not know  how his election was conducted.

How can you eat from where you did not sow? I can tell you that in my ward we will deliver DPP, and as I am boasting of my ward,  that is how others are boasting of theirs. Major politicians in the various council areas in Delta  have decided to work across party divides. I know with the trust I have in my people, they will follow me to deliver the person that will take us to the promised  land.

Can you be specific on what is making you to work across party divides?

We worked in 2007 and many were annoyed because of the manner the party primary was conducted. I belonged  to Chief Pius Ewherido’s camp and after the kangaroo primary they tried everything possible to cajole me and my followers to work for the party’s  candidate which I did but there is nothing  to say this is the benefit of what I worked for.

Some of them are saying that the job for the construction of ultra-modern secretariat building was awarded to my company but I tell you today that the contract was about N65 million. Value Added Tax (VAT) and other office bureaucracy took away about N25 million, so, what do you think was left for me to complete the project before talking of profit.

I am only explaining this point because of the way they are saying that I have been favoured in this administration that is about going into extinction for another to come on board. They party is not organised  compared to the era of James Ibori as governor.

Are you saying that the Chief Ibori administration was better than that of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan?
There is no way you can equate Ibori’s administration with  that of Uduaghan. Uduaghan’s own is just three-point agenda of him, his wife and children, same for  the deputy governor and the commissioners. Someone who came from America to be a commissioner is telling us that he is the leader of the party, and,  as a result,  all the grassroots  politicians were  sidelined.

I know how much I suffered during  the last election; my house in the village was almost burnt. Without fear or  favour, I want to say that the administration of Dr. Uduaghan which was quashed by the Court of Appeal in Benin a month ago totally negates the tenets of democracy and that has endeared us to work across party divides  to make sure that he does not return to government house after the rerun.

Are you saying PDP doesn’t have anything to campaign with?

You have used the right sentence; they don’t have anything on ground to campaign with. Ughievwen, where I hail from, has two commissioners, deputy governor, deputy chief of staff and others yet they cannot mention one tangible project in the kingdom in their three and a  half years in office.

How would you react to the allegation by Prof. B. I. C Ijeoma, Chief Otobo and others that Chief E. K Clark is witch-hunting Uduaghan for trying to get  EFCC to arrest him before the rerun election?

They should leave Chief Clark alone; he is a statesman that brought hope to the common man. Anyone that is against him is just wasting his time.