In this interview with CHIBUIKE CHUKWU, Deacon Ken Pela, the Labour Party’s candidate for governor of Delta State in the general election of 2023, discusses the 2027 general elections and how the battle between the people and the government would be a struggle. Pela also discusses his intention to run again in 2027, the reasons Delta has fallen short of being one of Nigeria’s highest-earning states, the ongoing criticism of Peter Obi, and his wish to make amends for the wrongs of Delta’s many years of government, among other matters. Extracts:
According to your analysis, Delta State should have been competing with companies like Dubai, but why do you think it isn’t doing as well as it should?
If you want to take this a step further, something would fill the void when there is nothing since nature detests emptiness. Consequently, you end up wasting the money when you find yourself in a scenario where you have money but are unsure of what to do with it. On the other hand, if you find yourself in a position where you have ideas and a vision, you will genuinely be searching for funding to execute these ideas. That is the issue. Assuming you look at my analysis, Delta was established in 1991. Military power prevailed there. It was therefore reasonable for Delta to drift between 1991 and 1999. With the exception of Felix Ibru’s brief tenure, the military and the majority of the administrations had no stake in the outcome. What if they were ahead of their time as a state? What if they’d formed a group or a committee instead? Indeed, there is a nation with deserts, oil, and other natural features. They’re doing what? After all, Dubai had already begun to show symptoms of vision by 1999. By 1999, they had started to transform that desert into a lovely location, and throughout the years, things only got better. They made investments across the economy, including in airports. The money was not squandered. We wouldn’t be in our current position if Delta had not thoroughly researched Dubai. Instead, they diverged their course and squandered money. In summary, that’s the main point. inadequate leadership with vision.
Do you not believe that some of these could have been explained by other factors? As an example, Delta cannot even fully regulate the oil in their backyard, as you mentioned.
There were alternative ways to invest the resources that Delta received in the form of income. That is what I am talking about. Now fast-forward twenty-five years. Take Abia State, for example. Several governors have served in Abia State. Under the former governors, Aba was a wasteland. Nothing was going to change for Umuahia. However, today’s visionary leadership is present in the same state. Examine the change after two years. The difference is that it’s not up to four years.
Since you ran for office in 2023 as a member of the Labour Party, many Nigerians still think that the 2023 election was heavily rigged. The recent election was not free and fair, according to a large number of Nigerians. You’re getting ready to try your hand at it again. What gives you the assurance that the procedure has changed to ensure a total break from the 2023 exercise?
I visited Benin last October to witness Olumide Apata’s election. I had been mobilizing myself. After spending more than three, four, or five months in and out of Edo State, I spent the weeks before that gubernatorial election there. As the head of the Labour Party’s governorship candidates forum, I actually motivated my colleagues for three weeks in a row. between 2023 and 2025. Additionally, I organized all of my coworkers both inside and outside of Edo State to help give the campaign a more national feel. People were already selling their votes for 5,000, 20,000, and 40,000 on election day, we discovered. I was a little demoralized. I became even more disheartened when, by 9 p.m., I arrived at the situation room and saw that Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in the lead with roughly 92,000 votes, and that, at that point, 92% of the results had been released, leaving only 8%. To the surprise of many, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was said to have won by a large margin by the next morning. My wife was actually quite uninterested that evening before the results were announced the following morning. My wife had already said, “Honey, are you sure you want to do this thing?” while she was in the United States. Would you like to keep doing this? You’re squandering money. Naturally, they inherit all of my rushing around since I spend money and time on personal matters. I mean, I live with what the family should. This time, she didn’t ask me since I’m squandering their resources. She was requesting that I be at ease. She was concerned about my health, which is why she was asking. While doing this, she was concerned about my emotional and mental health because she knows I believe in it. I kept doing this, and she was bothered by the possibility that they would continue to do what they would. That is precisely what I was meant to accomplish. That’s why I was so desperate. Olumide and I attended the Thanksgiving service at the church the following morning. I was also at peace on that Thanksgiving. What was the calm? The reason for this was that I was reminded in a spirit of what I constantly say. Normally, I would say that evil cannot always win out over good. Man has this world because of God. The devil, however, left heaven at the same moment that God gave man this planet and continued to struggle for dominance of it. And Satan will continue to prevail if man does not do what he ought to do. So the devil will prevail if some of us don’t stand. If some of us oppose him, though, God will have an opportunity to preserve this earth. I generally state that I think my principal, Peter Obi, has intervened in Nigerian politics in a way that is not typical. It is divine, in my opinion. It is, in my opinion, the solution to prayer. As long-time residents of this nation, we are aware that it is abnormal for people to spend their own money in support of a politician. Is that true or not? It is customary for politicians to donate money to the populace. In 2023, citizens started spending money on behalf of politicians for the first time. You and I are aware that the four individuals tweeting in the room, who claimed they wouldn’t receive one million votes, defeated them all without any kind of structure, but they went ahead anyhow, and Nigeria has been worse ever since. Since then, there has been more hunger throughout the country. What makes me think that things will be different in 2027 is your query. All of this being said, by 2027, the people will be fighting the government. When it comes to the state of affairs in the country, 2023 will be a child’s paradise compared to 2027. So, to return to your question, why do I think? It must be rooted in my past experiences and lessons learned to stay resolute. In my opinion, the truth is that people will accept things as they are in 2027. As you can see, Delta should be a citizen-driven movement by the time you read through my envisioned vision. I can’t accomplish this alone; Deltans must be involved. It is my responsibility to demonstrate to Deltans their shortcomings and to encourage them with what is achievable. Together, we shall retake Delta.
The ruling party, especially the All Progressives Congress governors, has allegedly been attacking Peter Obi. The first person to advise him against entering Benue State without permission was Governor Hyacinth Alia. Most recently, it was Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo. Do you believe that he is their target because of all of these?
The term that best describes it is frustration. I’ll respond to this query from two points of view. First of all, is this the first time you have witnessed politicking mid-term? No. It has never begun this way. It has never been this way before, I mean getting involved in election-related politics halfway through a government. This is because what transpired in 2013 startled them. The man was supposed to disappear, as all politicians do. What most politicians used to do, you know, was for a man to leave and start campaigning again in the run-up to the election. Even while Peter Obi may not be everywhere, he has been highly visible, involved, and active. He has continued to inspire and instill optimism. They have been losing popularity while that has been going on. Every day they lose. There is more hunger and the economy is becoming worse. They are so frustrated that they have no choice but to start politicking, which forces governors to defect to the APC and incites others. And Peter Obi is the man who stands out—and still does—in that process. Number one is that. 2. The chairman of the APC in Edo State. When he made the rash claim that he despises Peter Obi, they looked into his background and discovered that he was, in fact, a suspected fraudster. Naturally, if you look at the scenario, you will see that Nigeria is stratifying, with people with a specific type of character or a history of bad behavior all coming together around various coalitions, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC). I start to worry about the coalition at that point because, once more, we are meant to have another group in the opposition that is purportedly uniting around the ADC. But there’s one individual who sticks out in the second group that gathers around the ADC. He also frequently discusses dismantling the criminal justice system. He continues to say this. As a result, everyone with a criminal mindset understands that they will be in danger if that man joins government after he claims to sanitize the system. I was a candidate for local government chairman twenty-something years ago. When I won the primary, they wouldn’t give it to me. I then made an effort to interact with the system. I then became the National Institute of Sports’ acting chairman and a council member. We changed the name to Delta Trust Mortgage Finance, and I was the chairman of Delta Building Society at the time. I had then enrolled in Burutu’s Delta School of Marine Technology. This experience and journey led me to conclude that there are only 37 seats worth running for if your goal in politics is to make a difference. Either you are the president or you are the governor among them. Consequently, Peter Obi is aiming to surpass them. Thus, he will have the executive authority to make changes there. In actuality, if you can find a leader who possesses that kind of thinking and philosophy, you can significantly alter this nation, particularly if he has the support of the populace. You have the power to transform this nation so that anyone who follows him won’t dare to do anything else than improve the situation as it stands. He will therefore undoubtedly be hated by those who have a criminal mindset, criminal intentions, and criminal political aspirations.
Many proponents of Peter Obi’s ideas, including the Obidients, have stated that he ought to quit the alliance if the ADC did not provide him the presidential ticket. Do you not think it would portray him as inconsistent and desperate if it were to occur?
According to Peter Obi, he would never join a coalition just to gain power. He is going to join a coalition that will benefit the Nigerian people. To be honest, is there anyone else in this country right now that has the power to change things, especially among them? Who else in today’s politics, both inside and outside the coalition, has the best interests of the people and the will to improve Nigeria more than he does? Peter Obi has consistently delivered.
What is the Labour Party’s true situation? Have you stayed with the party, and has Peter Obi truly departed from the Labour Party?
The Labour Party still includes us. There is still a Peter Obi in the Labour Party. He and I attended the recent flag-off of the Labour Party’s campaign for the Anambra State governorship. So he’s still a member of the Labour Party. However, they are a coalition. In coalition talks for 2027, we are part of the Labour Party.
If Sheriff Oborevwori has been consistent with infrastructure, how would you rank his administration in your state after two years?
I’ve covered all I wanted to in my midterm report. The governor is a friend and brother of mine. But infrastructure is only one aspect of state development. Furthermore, why are expenditures made and what is the aim of infrastructure? There’s a lot of razzmatazz, and they’ll point to three new flyovers that have very high prices. In Warri, there are two, three, and five flyovers. I concede that flyovers facilitate convenient commuting. According to what I’ve heard, Ughelli and another person were recently honored. It is impossible for such flyovers to be over N200 billion inflated. They’ve already completed two years, and I believe that the three in Warri would cost more than N70 billion. Just one and a half months’ worth of N70 billion is allotted. We are entering the third year, and after two years, when the state has generated trillions of dollars in revenue, that is all they have to show. Without mentioning internally generated revenue (IGR), Delta State brought in nearly a billion naira in allocations in just two years. The five south-east states collectively made little over $1 billion, meaning that Delta State alone makes nearly as much as the five states combined. Take a look at leadership in action next. The budgets for Abia and Delta in 2025 are completely different. They are split up. Okay, so Sheriff is my brother, as I mentioned. I’ve covered all I wanted to in my midterm report already.
