Industrialist and Delta State governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chris Iyovwaye has promised to revitalise moribund industries if elected.
Iyovwaye, who is the Managing Director of Wellmann Group of Companies, a leading oil and gas engineering firm in Africa, stated this when he visited party delegates in Warri South, Uvwie and Udu Local Government Areas.
He was received by the party chairmen, Johnson Agbeyegbe (Warri South), Efe Okotedo (Uvwie) and Davidson Siloko (Udu)
The governorship hopeful said he would deploy Public Private Partnership (PPP) to resuscitate the industries which will in turn engage ‘idle youths
He said: “I am not in the race to play second fiddle. I know I have what it takes to take Delta State to the next level. I have a burden in my heart to develop Delta and I know I can’t move on without you.
“Look at your conscience. We need to lift our children. We need to rejig our educational sector. Money is good, but let it be a conscience matter. We need somebody that will bring solutions, think out of the box.
“Look at what is before us, how does it affect our families and our future? I am making this passionate appeal and I’m here to ask for your support because I know I am home. The time to rise up for our state is now. Let us use our votes wisely.”
An Ebonyi State governorship aspirant, Chief Elias Mbam, has vowed to reverse the poverty index of the state if elected governor in 2023
Mbam, who is Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC), said he has already developed an economic blueprint to that effect.
He lamented that the 2019 National Bureau of Statistics (NBC) poverty index put Ebonyi at 87.02 per cent.
“Our state is put below Jigawa, Taraba and Sokoto states, as those with the highest level of poverty per head in Nigeria, and the only state in southern Nigeria with the highest number of poor citizens.
“I’ll reverse this trend if I become governor in 2023,” Mbam said.
The governorship hopeful said he would leverage on his vast knowledge in micro-economics and skills in revenue diversification, having served as chairman of RMAFC for about 10 years, to turn around the economy of the state.
He added: “As chairman of RMFAC, I instituted diverse and radical campaign on revenue diversification, leading Nigeria and many states into the non-oil sector, especially mining and agriculture to reduce the over dependence in oil. This has helped to boost government revenues at the time of inflation orchestrated by the global COVID-19 pandemic and insecurity.
“This knowledge will be best deployed into ensuring that Ebonyi’s revenue regime is critically evaluated by enhancing and exploring other revenue sources without dependence on federal allocation, over-taxation of citizens and small businesses.”
The aspirant said conscious effort and plans would be made to explore other critical sectors of the economy to boost revenue generation.
Source: The Nation
