Olorogun David Edevbie has been declared by the Court as the PDP candidate for the 2023 governorship election in Delta State. He is man of sound education with a first degree in Economics from University of Lagos, an MBA from the Cardiff Business School of the University of Wales, UK and Advanced Management Diploma from Harvard University, US, Edevbie has served as a Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Delta State; Principal Secretary and de facto Chief of Staff to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and as Chief of Staff to the incumbent Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. In this interview, he promises to make Delta state safe and secures. He also says that the contest should be about competence and the content of the character of the person to be elected. He also speaks on many other things including having constant power generation in the state. Excerpts:
What is your reaction to the controversy surrounding the PDP governorship ticket in Delta State and the recent High Court judgment?
I am confident that whatever differences we have within the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State at the moment will be resolved amicably in due course. At the moment, all parties are exercising their fundamental legal rights as they deem fit. That said, I would rather discuss my vision and the services I hope to render to the people of Delta State than dwell on what I believe to be a needless controversy because, before the Primary, I was the leading candidate of our Party. I was widely acknowledged as the most qualified aspirant, and if our Party members were left to decide freely and to put the Party’s interest above all others, I was the most acceptable. I would, therefore, instead rely on that dimension to prove how I merit the Party’s support as the gubernatorial candidate than just the litigations brought upon us.
Many will question how such a promise of prosperity is different because most politicians make such promises, particularly during general elections?
Let me begin by highlighting the deliverables, and then I will explain why my promises are different. Rather than just promises, I have sets of “policy to public benefit” strategies. Anyone can make political promises, but very few people have the competency to prepare legislative frameworks, stakeholders’ mapping and the consecutive execution of processes that translate political vision through executive policies and implementation to achieve better public services and benefits. Hence, I have clearly set out policy frameworks that will do the following:
Deliver a dramatic change in the fidelity of energy supply to meet private, and public electricity needs essential for creating and sustaining jobs and economic activities. It is a plan that is hinged on creating renewable power supply hubs in all three Senatorial zones to target vital sectors and provide them cheaper, steady electricity and make them very business-friendly hubs; and a promise to leverage our existing equities in Distribution Companies to facilitate the delivery of a 500MW power plant within 36 months, as well as encourage speedy development of Independent Power Plants through deliberate public-private Partnership initiatives. This is an absolute priority and a critical pathway to our progress because steady and predictable electricity supply is at the core of modern development.
There are many power projects around the country, yet the energy that is critically needed is often never available to users, how will these be different?
This is where understanding the policy ambience is critical. In our case, we will be starting by augmenting the areas of policy weaknesses in the 2017 Power Sector Recovery programme required to prioritise investments, restructure the sector and re-evaluate problems around energy payments and tariffs. In addition, we will have a target-setting approach where we determine, for instance, how much energy is required to keep all businesses in our principal economic activity areas like Asaba, Warri, Ughelli, Sapele, Bomadi, Escravos, Agbor, kale, Oleh, Oghara, koko, Ozoro and others well served with steady supplies, especially at the most economically demanding hours of the day, such explicit quantification and delivery of qualitative services in that sector is now even more possible with the recent enabling law on electricity generation, transmission and distribution at state level by the National Assembly. We will determine what energy mixes can meet these demands and how and who can deliver them, first for 12 hours daily and then incrementally until we have a steady 24 hourly supply within 36months. Our vision is such that when an investor thinks about Nigeria, Delta State should be the number one go-to place, and this is also why we have to work on other critical issues like security, enhanced MSMEs and youth empowerment, agro-industrialization and revitalization of social infrastructure using modernized and effective ICT, Transportation, Education, Health, Housing and urban infrastructure.
