Delta State Commissioner for Works and Public Information, Charles Aniagwu, has maintained that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will rely on President Bola Tinubu’s policies and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s projects to improve its performance in the state during the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Aniagwu said the state government would use its record of projects and programmes, alongside the impact of federal policies on state finances, to convince voters to support Tinubu and Oborevwori.
“We are going to take advantage of that performance to talk to our people. We are not in the business of dropping numbers, but we are hoping that both the activities of our governor, the fact that we’re also interacting with our people, will help us have a percentage that is going to be reasonable when compared to our number of registered voters.”
He said the government was targeting increased voter turnout rather than making promises about the number of votes it would deliver to the president. “Of course, if you follow the trend, you will notice that across the length and breadth of this country, there have been a whole lot of issues of not having up to 50 percent turnout during elections. And so if that is the case, it will not be very, very wise to just begin to drop numbers.”
Aniagwu said the government hoped to mobilise more residents to vote, adding that its projects across the state’s 25 local government areas would form a major part of its campaign.
“But what we are hoping to do this time around is to make effort to bring out our people, because we believe that when they come out in large numbers, that a good number of that number will be looking in our direction.”
He identified road construction, urban renewal, technical education and interventions for civil servants among the areas the government would highlight. “What is the snail in this instance? We’re talking about the projects that cross across the 25 local government areas. We’re talking about policies that touch the life of our people. We’re talking about our intervention in the life of our civil servants.”
Aniagwu emphasised that the administration had connected rural communities to urban centres through road projects and undertaken urban renewal in different parts of the state.
“Number one, in the area of roads, we have been able to connect our rural communities to our urban centres. In the area of urban centres, we’ve been able to bring about a whole lot of urban renewal.”
He highlighted the government’s technical schools, claiming that their facilities compared with those of universities. “Today, Delta State is the only place where you see a technical school looking like a university. And when I say it, I ask anybody to verify.”
Aniagwu said Governor Oborevwori had directed that opposition parties be given access to venues for their political activities.
“Our governor has made it clear, let them ask for any venue, we will give it to them.”
He argued that the government preferred enclosed venues because they allowed security personnel to control access and manage potential risks. “Why are we doing it? Because once you come in, there are security people manning the gates. And the government has said, ask. We will give you any place you want us to give you to campaign.”
Aniagwu also rejected suggestions that the state government was preventing opposition parties from campaigning, insisting that political parties were free to express themselves.
“We believe that is a democratic setting. They should be able to express themselves. But this election is not going to be won on B-Board or on the street. It will be won on the basis of the performance of the governor and the fact that we are mobilising our people.”
The commissioner also defended the government’s handling of the recent violence in Asaba involving supporters of the NDC during a street march. “Well, I don’t want to believe that the police acted as bystanders. Perhaps if the police and other security agencies were not there, the situation possibly would have degenerated more than what happened. And I will also want to state that the fact that the police also and some military men came handy saved a number of lives.”
Aniagwu said Governor Oborevwori had ordered an impartial investigation into the incident, adding that anyone found to have instigated or participated in the violence should be examined.
“The governor was very, very clear that whether you are even his supporter or a member of the APC or anybody for that matter, that that investigation need to be very, very impartial.”
He also condemned calls for people accused of electoral malpractice to be killed. “But whichever way you look at it, such rhetoric has a way of making supporters to proceed in a direction that is not desirable.”
The commissioner further rejected claims that the incidents in Asaba and Warri represented a pattern of attacks against the NDC in Delta State. “And then secondly, it is not a pattern, because when you talk about a pattern, it means that it’s continuously and then you are linking it to be able to join one to the other.”
The commissioner said the government would not assign blame for the violence based on social media reports or allegations from political supporters, insisting that security agencies should establish the facts. “If we want to begin to take on what we saw in the social media or what some of our supporters decide to tell us, and we say that is the situation, that would be irresponsible of the government.”
He said the investigation should cover individuals across political parties and that the government expected security agencies to question anyone with relevant information.
“They have the authority to invite everybody. They have the authority to question anybody across political divide to be able to state what is the situation.”
“In the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, who contested on the Labour Party platform, polled 341,866 votes in Delta State. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party came second with 161,600 votes, while Tinubu finished third with 90,183 votes.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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