The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, berated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for failing to develop Delta State despite the huge resources accruing to the state, saying the state is not “an ATM for migratory politicians”.

Tinubu accused the PDP of abandoning infrastructural development in Delta State and leaving the state to “rot away”.

The APC presidential flag-bearer said this while speaking at the party’s campaign at the Warri Township Stadium in Delta State on Saturday.

He said: “Delta is among Nigeria’s largest oil and gas producing states. Revenue from oil and gas has historically been the backbone of government revenue and foreign exchange earnings.

“As such your state and other oil producers have made a one-of-a-kind financial contribution to the building of modern Nigeria. The nation is thankful to you.

“Delta has all it takes to be great and help lead the nation forward. Yet, for the past twenty-three years, those governing your state have taken you for a hard and long ride by selling you short. They have not done the things they should have and could have done for you.

“The infrastructure in the state was better 30 years ago than it is now. The state has recorded historic debts run up by the incumbent yet the infrastructure and other things still remain lacking because of under-investment and neglect.

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“The money is much but it does not have legs. Where did it go? Not to your welfare. Perhaps, it has found a home with a certain presidential candidate who loves Dubai more than Nigeria.

“But Delta State is not an ATM for migratory politicians. It is a place where good and hardworking people reside and work to create decent and peaceful lives for themselves and their families.”

On his plans for Delta State, which he described as his other home, Tinubu promised to re-activate the gas revolution industrial park while also seeing to the cleaning of the whole Niger-Delta region to ensure that the host communities do not suffer for building the nation’s economy through their oil.

“Our government will further re-activate the Multi-Billion Dollar Gas Revolution Industrial Park Project. President Buhari’s administration has made great strides in revisiting this project. We will complete it.

“Gas will become a national priority. I envision fertilizer and petrochemical plants, aluminium smelters, methanol plants, all creating jobs for the unemployed while producing goods that bolster farming, construction and other industries.

“We will step up and clean up the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of the Niger Delta.

“The NDDC will be improved. Greater cooperation with communities which have suffered environmental degradation will be my policy.

“I am saddened by the environmental cost which the oil and gas industry has exacted. Our moral and economic duty call us to clean the Niger Delta and to create new opportunities for young Deltans to build better lives for themselves,” Tinubu said.

On infrastructure development in the state, the APC presidential candidate said: “We will help develop the infrastructure of your state. The deep sea port project and the Omadino–Escravos Road project will be revisited. We will rehabilitate Warri, Koko, Sapele and Burutu ports, creating yet more jobs in the State.”

Tinubu further promised to make the state safe for the residents, saying no business can thrive in an unsafe environment.

“My government will deploy new technologies to protect the safety and security of law- abiding Deltans as well as the critical national infrastructure situated in this state. We will also introduce greater funding and reform policies to bring the Nigerian police closer to the communities they serve,” he added.

Speaking at the rally, the APC governorship candidate in Delta State, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, said the governor of the state and PDP vice-presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, failed the state and should step down.

Omo-Agege said Delta under Okoya’s watch has become the “poverty and slum” capital of the country, urging the people of the state to vote for Tinubu and all APC candidates in the 2023 general election.

Others at the event were Senate President, Ahmed Lawan; APC Deputy National (South), Barr. Emma Enekwu; and the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Sen. Kashim Shettima; amongst others.

The Star