Honourable Austin Uroye representing Warri South constituency, is a seasoned politician and administrator. He is an influential figure in the Delta State government; as Chairman House committee on health he made appreciable contributions to the delivery of good governance and dividends of democracy to the people of the State…in this chat with Mainland Metro News, he speaks about his expectations on Nigeria and his political party the Peoples Democratic Party beyond May 2023
MMN: We are approaching an election year, with all the growing cases of insecurity, do you foresee a smooth transition of government or a violent outcome.
I don’t foresee any trouble. Nigeria has come of age. We are a growing democracy, the truth of the matter is that it’s better we live in harmony and enjoy peace than war. Certainly you know politics is about interest and with the state of the nation today, things might be shaky, but we don’t intend to go into any kind of war, we had one before and it was not a very good experience. Certainly nobody would want to pray for war or trouble. But though there is no system that is perfect, perfection is of God. There are sure going to be protests, pockets of resistance, some people trying to disorganise the system, but it wouldn’t get to that state where it would become an emergency, which will require a total shutdown to deal with it. Generally I don’t expect any upheaval. I’m optimistic that come May 29, 2023 there would be a peaceful transfer of power to a President elected by Nigerians.
You have been in the Delta House of Assembly for quite a while, how have you been able to impact the citizens of your constituency?
Well as a member representing over half a million citizens living in my constituency, which you know is an urban constituency… Warri is a mini Nigeria. My primary function as a lawmaker is to make sure that what is due them from the commonwealth of Delta State gets to my constituency. The sole responsibility of a lawmaker is to appropriate laws and pass bills; with the aid of those laws, the State is conducive for Deltans to live. As a member of the seventh assembly, I am proud to say that the seventh Delta house of assembly has been tagged the most vibrant house of assembly in Nigeria. The accolade didn’t just come on a platter; it is because of what we do. As members of the Delta State house of assembly, we have been able to pass laws that have made governance very effective. Today the peace you see in Delta State, what people enjoy in the Delta today, is because we’ve been able to create a synergy between the executive arm and the legislative arm. There is peace in Delta and people from my constituency are enjoying it. All that is due to my constituency from the government have been made available. Roads have been provided, schools have been built, the social responsibility the government owes the people have also been provided. And the empowerment programmes meant for Deltans, people from my constituency have also gotten that. So certainly to the best of my knowledge I have represented them well and by the special grace of God, you know that governance is a continuous process and we are very optimistic he best will still be elected to continue.
MMN: The Peoples Democratic Party governorship primary was a bitter fight that ended in the Supreme Court, how would that affect the chances of the Party in Delta?
No, not all… Delta State is a PDP State. From the onset of our Democracy far back in 1999, PDP has been the only party in Delta. It’s PDP and other parties, those other parties, they don’t have major bearings. Delta State is predominantly PDP and we have sustained that; the people of Delta are happy. We did our primaries and it was very transparent, because we have a governor Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who is now the PDP vice presidential candidate and by special grace of God, he is going to be the vice president of Nigeria come May 29, 2023 and that is a plus for Delta. He is very transparent in act and kind, the primaries we did were very transparent, it was televised locally and nationally. Today, the Party’s candidate who is my colleague Rt Honourable Sherif Oborovworie has been generally accepted. We have issues and protests, which is part of the process, people will agitate, they went to court all the way to the supreme court, but Hon Oborovworie has been vindicated and the Party has also created the mechanism of reconciliation, today everybody is back on board and everyone is moving along. I’m very optimistic that come May 2023, Delta State will still remain a strong PDP state as a family we are moving on. In the house today, we have just one minority leader from the APC and the rest of the 28 members are PDP. There is no cause for alarm, we are good, PDP will take total control.
MMN: At the national level you have Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike leading other four governors in opposing the PDP presidential candidate don’t you think it should be a major concern for the PDP?
No no there shouldn’t be a cause for concern. in Party politics certainly there are interests and politics is all about interest. The G5, they are talking about their interest, which is their legitimate right, however, it would get to a pinnacle where the voice of reasoning, the majority of the Party, the core decision of the party will supersede any individual interest. Today Wike is still a member of the Party, he has not castigated the PDP. He has the governorship candidate, house of assembly candidates, House of Reps and Senate candidates he is presenting through the party. Certainly he is still a core member of the PDP, what they have are differences of interests and those different interests at the end of the day would be balanced.
MMN: How would you rate the ruling party’s chance at the polls?
Today for over seven and half years going to eight years the ruling party APC has taken us 30 years backwards… Nigerians have seen where APC has taken us. We’ve never had it this bad, the indices are there. Today a bag of rice is going for between N45,000 –N48,000 that is even Nigerian rice. A litre of fuel is going for between N250/400. The Naira is extremely down. We all have seen that APC cannot take Nigeria forward to where the country wants to be. The only option Nigerians have now is the PDP, a time test party. Even though some might argue otherwise, people can compare PDP and APC, we are seeing where we are with them. I’m optimistic that come next year the country will speak for PDP and PDP will work to reverse the trend.
MMN: Talking about the Economy, for instance you have the Warri refinery laying waste, it is a complex in your State and constituency, is there a way you can influence its resuscitation and then create employment, and boost economic activities in the Warri environ?
You see in governance there are segments, like the refinery, it is in the exclusive list of the Federal government and the State has little or nothing to do when it comes to petroleum. The PDP presidential candidate Atiku said he is going to create an atmosphere where each State has control over its resources. If today the Warri refinery is controlled by Delta State we would be talking about resuscitating it. Our major source of income as a country is Oil and you have three refineries that are not working, we import fuel and pay subsidies, this is not workable. We have been putting pressure on the FG to get the Warri refinery back on streams. They say they are doing turn-around-maintenance, money has been appropriated and people cannot give accounts. Hopefully when Wazari Adamawa Atiku becomes president, those refineries would be privatised so that they can produce and make money. Government should concentrate on governance. Today the world economy is being driven by the private sector. This is why it is necessary to vote in Atiku and his running mate Ifeanyi Okowa because the combination is like putting a round peg in a round hole.