2019: It’s possible to defeat PDP in Delta state – Governorship aspirant

Comrade Frank Ufuoma Esanubi, a governorship aspirant, has said it is not impossible to defeat the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta state in the general elections that will hold across Nigeria in 2019.

Esanubi, who is aspiring for the governorship position in Delta state under the Action Democratic Party (ADP) platform, stated this in an interview with TheNewsGuru.



He said the question of whether the PDP dynasty in Delta state for the past 18 years has brought good or evil has been asked time and time again, and according to him, PDP administration in the state is nothing to write home about.

“Since the return to democracy in 1999, Delta state has been led by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), which has been in power, first with Chief James Ibori, and later with Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and now we have Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa at the helms of affairs. We can ask ourselves: in the last 18 years, how much progress have we made?



“The truth is, the PDP, having been in power for so long, they have the resources, they have the structure; but at the same time, if we recall what happened at the national level in 2015, where the PDP had also been in power for 15 years or so, we had the opposition party defeating them at the general elections. That only happened because people were generally dissatisfied with the way the PDP had led over time.

“It is the people that will decide the direction of the next election. The people are not happy with what they have gotten. Delta state should be one of the richest in Nigeria going by our position as a major oil producing state, with the derivation fund that we also earn.

“Unfortunately, we are not where we should be. The people will naturally react. It is not impossible to defeat the PDP, because it is the people that will make the final decision at the end of the day, he said.

Speaking on the challenge of giving a manifesto, Esanubi said the average man in the street do not believe in manifestos, that his history and pedigree will speak for him.

However, he said there are some basic things that he is going to offer the people of Delta state.

“I have been a worker from when I finished my youth service corps. I have worked in a bank; I have worked in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, and I have worked in two major international oil companies.

“In fifteen years I have worked, for every month, I got my salary on or before 25th day of the month. It is inhuman for anybody to be in authority and deny workers their due wages.

“One of the first things I will promise is that workers will get their salaries on or before 25th day of the month. That should not be something that is celebrated; it is something that is given under normal clime, but because of the maladministration that we have, it now appears that it is a big item.

“Beyond that, the major issues that we will be tackling are issues of job creation and reducing unemployment for our youths,’ he said.

He further stated that he will prioritize setting up one agro-allied company in each of the 25 local government areas of the state to create employment opportunities for teeming youths of the state.

“We will look at the locality and look at the particular local government and look at what major agricultural products from that local government: is it yam, cassava, palm oil, etc; and when we identify what a local government has competitive advantage of, we are going to site an agricultural company focused on that product within that local government.


“Let us take the issue of refineries today. We are one of the major oil producing states, and there is going to be a new refinery in Nigeria, but it is being sited in Lagos. What that means is that oil would be produced in Delta and refining, and after the oil is refined, it would be brought back to Delta and we would pay.

“What value have we given to the people of Delta state? Absolutely nothing! We need to rework that, and at a minimum, we should have one refinery for each of the senatorial district, he said.

He also revealed that there are many other programmes he will roll out and that with time Deltans will get to see the many programmes he has in store.

Talking on his leadership cum political experience, Esanubi said his life experiences and experiences gained as chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Chevron and Deputy President of PENGASSAN as well as serving in the boards of companies have exposed him to issues of governance.

“I will say in terms of preparation, we need to realize that other countries today are tolling the path of having vibrant young people taking over the leadership of their countries. It is at the youthful age that one can make much impact, and that is what we are bringing to the table.

“We do not need to get to 60 years or 70 years before we want to take responsibilities. We need to rise up to responsibilities and do what we are supposed to do as young people in this country,” he said.

Esanubi does not believe ethnicity should have negative impact on the political ambition of anyone.

“You see, I like Nigeria’s old national anthem compared to the new one. If you listen to the old national anthem, it says “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand”. It is telling us about the strength we have in our diversity.

“Our tribe, our ethnicity, our religion should not actually be something that should differentiate us or that pull us apart. They should be tools that bind us together, and working more strongly.

“Today we are happy to celebrate, for instance, that a Nigerian, Toni Iwobi, have been elected to the Senate of Italy. The question to ask is how do we react assuming we have a Yoruba man, a Hausa man or an Igbo man come to Delta state to become a member of the Delta State House of Assembly. We celebrate the Nigerian that is getting a political position in Italy, but when it comes to a Nigerian in Nigeria, we say no you are not from our state,” he stated.

The governorship aspirant said part of the problems of the country Nigeria is the issue of power rotation or zoning, stressing that what power rotation or zoning ends up giving the masses is mediocre leaders, adding: “I am an advocate of having the best lead us at every point in time”.

“If you take note of what happens in soccer, for instance, the Super Eagles will be playing in the World Cup in June; assuming we are to do rotation, probably we say it is the turn of the North to produce the players in the Super Eagles. And when the North had produced the players of the Super Eagles, we go to the South, and when the South has produced, we go to the West, and so on and so forth. If we follow this order, we are never going to have the best 11 representing us in tournaments.

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“Government is not different. In government, we should have our best hands coming forward to lead us. But, immediately we bring this issue of zoning, this issue of rotation, what we do to ourselves is depriving ourselves of the best hands that should lead us. So, as a person, I do not believe that zoning is the best thing we need for this country; neither is it the best thing we need for Delta state.

“I am offering myself to the entire people of the state, and I believe I will be judged on merit to know if I am the best man for the job or somebody else. The people will make a very objective choice.

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Talk is cheap. When you get there,it is a different ball game entirely. If na lie ask PMB and Apc