From  Kemi Yesufu, Abuja

Related News

Lovette Idisi is the member representing, Ethiope East/Ethiope West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. In this interview, he spoke on the reactions that trailed the return of former Delta state governor, James Ibori, who is from his constituency.
There have been mixed reactions concerning the return of former governor of Delta state, James Ibori. How do you see his coming back to Nigeria and what do you think it portends for politics, especially in the Niger-Delta?
I represent Ethiope East/ Ethiope West Federal Constituency where Onanefe James Ibori comes from. His return to Delta state and Nigeria spells out a couple of things. One, I would say his return means stronger political direction for all the Urhobos. Recently, there have been issues within the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), most especially those surrounding the president of the union. With a man with tremendous influence in Urhobo kingdom like Ibori back, I would say that his presence will lead to a good political direction in terms of unifying Urhobo people to have one voice. And to prevent a situation where when it is time for the Urhobos to present their candidates for any position, we won’t speak with one voice.
Many would remember what happened at the last election when we had different political interests from Urhobo kingdom, despite knowing that we have a clear understanding of how the governorship should rotate. What happened projected us as people that are not united, people who weren’t working with the trend of time. For now, there is an understanding that Delta North should have two terms as governor, which Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, God willing will do. We need not be told that all we have to do as Urhobos is to throw our weight behind Governor Okowa, so that when it is time for the Urhobo to emerge as governor, they too in return will throw their weight behind us. So, ultimately he (Ibori) will be a unifying force in Delta state and the South-South as a whole.
Some say the former governor should quietly go into retirement and not get involved in politics. But you seem to hold a contrary view, why?
What I just explained is about his being a godfather and unifying factor. We don’t expect him get involved with things like nominating candidates for any position. But politics is a lifestyle, which you don’t need to get out of even at old age. So I still see him (Ibori) being relevant in Delta state and Niger Delta politics because there a very few remarkable individuals, like him, that touched the lives of the people and still command plenty of respect. So, I expect him to still be influential.
Some have criticised how Deltans welcomed him back. What do you say to individuals who say the  Ibori’s welcome party should have been less colorful?
Well, it depends on their perception of someone’s return home being flamboyantly done. In my view, there is no such thing as double jeopardy. (Ibori) served him term for whatever he was accused of. You cannot beat a child and stop him from crying. So, you cannot ask that when our beloved returned, we should not celebrate. He should be allowed to live his life and I for one, will always stand to celebrate him (Ibori).
You spoke about Governor Okowa getting a second term like it’s already a done deal. Why this level of confidence?
Delta state is peculiar in this regard, in the sense that it is not like other states with a huge opposition. From the last general elections, you can decipher that we had little or no presence of the APC in Delta state. And prior to that, the closest we came to having an opposition was with the Labor Party, which today, some of its members have joined forces with the APC. The only senator from the Labor party moved to the APC. But Delta state is doing well under Governor Okowa who has put in much work, implementing his five-point agenda, which has led to the empowerment of many of our people. I think he should be given more time to consolidate on bringing his campaign promises to fruition. Besides, when you consider that the allocation the state receives is not the same with what it was before, you will understand why we call him a miracle worker back in the state.
But there have been people who said the governor hasn’t lived up to expectations?
There is no government that can satisfy everybody. But you can be fair enough to take statistics on the areas he (Okowa) has invested in. You can look at the roads he has worked on, with the amount of money he is receiving as allocation. You can look at the number of people he has touched through empowerment programmes. I think it’s those that are just looking for power that would say, Senator Okowa hasn’t performed tremendously well. For me and the people of my constituency, for once we can pass a vote of confidence on our governor.
How would you assess President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance, especially with regard to how much impact he has made in the South-South?
Well, the Buhari administration is one that has been shrouded in secrecy and mysteries. This has made it a subject of a lot of political interpretations. But remarkably, the cleanup of Ogoni land is something they have commenced. However, we have to look at what has  been done since the intervention was launched. It is one thing to announce in the media that, you have started the clean up of Ogoni land. The idea is good, it deserves to be applauded. But the media event on the clean up doesn’t translate to the actual cleaning of the oil, spilled over years in the Ogoni community. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo visited states in the South-South to understand what the issues are and he was talked to about several issues. Our hope is that most of the facts put before him will be taken seriously and addressed immediately. It is when the issues that were raised have been taken care of that we can say the Federal Government is beginning to make impact in the Niger-Delta.