Labour Party’s Governorship Candidate for Delta State, Deacon Ken Pela, in this interview with Gboyega Akinsanmi, speaks about his foray into partisan politics, programmes of action he plans to execute if elected governor, among other issues.
can you give a brief about yourself?
I am an economist by training. I became an investment banker before I went back to my original passion, which is real estate development. My original dream was to be an architect, but I ended up studying Economics. Now, I have been doing real estate development. In addition to that, I have been an entrepreneur.
I have been involved in captive power. I chair a company that specialises in captive power in Otta Industrial Estate. I am involved in a company that is into agriculture, especially mechanisation of agriculture and the full value chain of agriculture.
A good number of people believe you are a greenhorn in Delta politics. Hence, you may not be able to compete effectively with the candidates of the leading political parties. How true is this claim?
My journey in politics started about 22 years ago. Then, I aspired to be chairman in my local government in Delta State. I won my primary.
But those who are familiar with Delta politics will know that there is a system in place that does not allow true democracy to thrive. The state has been under the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for almost 24 years. So, I started politics in the PDP. Even though I won the primary, I was not allowed to become the candidate.
At the end of that contest, I stayed in politics. I have been a member of the Governing Council and Acting Chairman, National Institute of Sports (NIS). Under my leadership, the institute organised the first and only Emerging Athletes Hunt in conjunction with Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF). The idea was to make NIS self-sufficient and the pillar of sports in Nigeria. The idea was to gather various athletes from the grassroots and groom them to become national athletes. After my stint in the NIS, I was Chairman of Delta Trust Mortgage Bank. Also, I was briefly a member of the Delta School of Marine Technology. Though I have been involved in the political process in the last 22 years, these are the political appointments that I had got.
Beyond all these appointments, what really inspired you to throw your hat into the ring of the governorship contest in Delta State?
Since my aspiration for chairman, I have not contested any elective position because I have a job I am doing. So, being involved in politics is because of my desire for change and my passion to contribute my quota to changing the narratives. More particularly, I have been involved in developing my locality. I have done that from the perspective of the private sector.
I was the one and only person that established in my place over 20 years ago. That was because I felt I could contribute my quotas to the development of my locality. But I found out that if you really want to make changes, you must be in politics. I was not particularly keen about politics initially. That changed after I received the prophecy that I should be in politics. I did not think I should enter into politics until I received direct revelation. After what happened in 2002 when I won the chairmanship primary and I was denied the ticket, I told God that I did not want to contest it because I wanted to do it. But I contested then because it was something God wanted me to do. Like I said, the revelation was specific that I was going to be the Governor of Delta State. I told God that if it was really what He wanted me to do, work it out in your own time. I stay in politics, but focus on my business. I was involved whenever I needed to.
Given what it takes to successfully contest the governorship election in Nigeria, why don’t you start with the House of Representatives or Senate to test your popularity?
After my experiences as the acting chairman of a federal board and the chairman of a state board, I realised that there are only 37 positions in this country that make any sense if you are going to make any change. It is either you are governor or you are the president. Those are the positions where you can make definite changes and where the bulk stops on your table.
If you are a commissioner, you are responsible to your governor. If you try to make changes and he does not like them, he will stop you. If you are the chairman of a board, you are responsible to your supervisory ministry. If you try to make any change, they will stop you. That was part of the reason I did not contest any position after my experience in 2002. I initially thought I could stand a chance in the PDP because I have been in the PDP all these years. I also know that the way Delta PDP is run, it will be impossible to clinch the governorship ticket.
How then do you end up being the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Delta State?
The opportunity to contest the governorship election on the platform of the Labour Party began to present itself with the problem we had in the PDP over the last 11 months. We have schism in the party because the governor was going in one direction and his political godfather was going in another direction. This situation presented an opportunity.
Even with this situation, I did not go looking for it. Rather, I was focussed on supporting former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, because I believed in his candidacy. You know I said there were only 37 positions that help one to make change. If you have a president who is focussed on changing this country, it will help.
We will begin to have change with Peter Obi as the President of Nigeria. That was my primary focus. I set out to support Obi’s presidential aspiration and ensure we are able to win. Somewhere along the line, someone asked me to contest the governorship election. That is how the opportunity came to contest on the platform of the Labour Party.
Like I once said, I asked God to work it out in His own time. I believe that the way I got the ticket of the Labour Party and the situation on ground today show the involvement of God.
Is the structure of the Labour Party in Delta State strong enough to guarantee your victory in the governorship poll?
Political structure can be built. That has been proven with the emergence of the Obedient Movement in the country today. People with desire, passion and zeal to change the country have come together with their own resources to begin to change the narratives.
What we understand as political structure in Nigeria today is the structure of criminality. This enables those in governments to use the public funds to finance and build a political structure. But what we have in the Labour Party is the Obedient Movement. People of their own desire and free will are using their own funds to mobilise support for Peter Obi and other candidates of the Labour Party.
When other parties want to do anything, they will have to provide funds to mobilise their supporters. In our case, however, we have a situation whereby people in their own free will are using their funds to mobilise support for us.
We can see it everywhere today. That gives us an advantage to be able to easily build the structure of the people who are passionate about changing the narratives. There is a difference between people who are paid to do something and people who are committed to a common cause and ready to use their own resources to achieve it. The Bible says where your treasure is, that is where your heart is. Now, a man who spent his own blood, money and sweat to prepare for an election will keep his vigil to protect it.
That is what we have across the federation today and not just in Delta State. People are using their own resources, talent and time to campaign and mobilise for us across the state. I am confident they will defend the result of the election.
You are running the PDP that has been in charge for almost 24 years and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who is the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC). Why do you think you can defeat these candidates?
In Delta, PDP today is not the PDP of yesterday. There is a deep schism among the leaders of Delta PDP. Today, Delta PDP has been divided into four factions. First, some are with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. Second, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege left with a huge number of leaders and members of Delta PDP. Third, many still have their allegiance with David Edevbie, whom former Delta State Governor, James Ibori anointed to succeed Okowa. Finally, others are aloof, still thinking where they will go. That is the situation in Delta PDP today. We do not have the formidable PDP that we used to have.
Aside, the governorship candidate of Delta PDP and Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori is not acceptable across the state. With this schism, people are no longer committed to Delta PDP. That is the situation we have in Delta PDP as of today.
On Ovie Omo-Agege, what they depend upon is money and resources. But we have a wind of change blowing across the federation today where money will not determine the outcome of the 2023 elections. That kind of funding that used to determine elections before will no longer be a determinant of who wins the next elections.
The question is: what gives me the confidence that I will defeat the governorship candidates of Delta APC and PDP? The first is the situation on the ground, which I believe it is God doing. I believe God has orchestrated the situation we currently have in Delta State to my favour. It gives an opportunity to someone like me, whom God has ordained to be the next governor of Delta State.
On the one hand, we have a divided party struggling for survival. On the other hand, we have an army of committed people who are ready to use their own resources to liberate their state. With all these scenarios, Delta State is now ripe for change.
Beyond all these issues you have raised, what is your agenda and plan for Delta State
My vision is to build a better Delta state, where righteousness, harmony and prosperity reign. When I talk about righteousness, I am not talking about righteousness in religious connotation.
The dictionary meaning for righteousness is to do the right thing. In this context, we plan to enthrone righteousness, the rule of law, accountability and integrity in governance. We intend to cut waste in government and address corrupt practices.
We also intend to enthrone transparency in government. Basically, we want to enthrone fairness, equity and justice. When we enthrone righteousness, we create a situation of harmony, peace and security. When we pursue all these values with commitment, we will end up creating an environment where prosperity will thrive.
How do you achieve the idea of a Delta State where prosperity will thrive?
To drive the process of prosperity, we have few key development drivers in mind. First, we ensure we emphasise local government autonomy.
We ensure that the local governments receive the funds that are allocated for grassroots development. We also ensure that the local governments use those funds and account for those funds. We will elevate the quality of people that serve in our local governments. We engage people who will turn the local governments to development centres.
Second, we plan a social investment scheme. Under this scheme, we plan to loan N1 million to 100 persons in each of the local governments per month. It will be an interest-free loan payable over four years. We will focus mainly on women and youths. Under the scheme, we will encourage our young people – men and women – to come up with business ideas, basically to drive small and medium enterprises. We will set up a committee to be headed by an experienced banker to review those business ideas and plans.
The best business plans will be picked and funded. We will give N1 million each to 100 persons each per local government to be able to build their businesses. It means we will give N1 million each to 100 persons per local government for four years. That means 4,800 persons will benefit from the scheme in each local government in the first tenure of my administration. That will amount to N4.8 billion per local government. This will spread across 25 local government areas in Delta State.
That, I believe, catalyses the growth of SMEs in Delta State. The scheme will be well-managed and well-handled, and we believe it will grow the economy of Delta State significantly.
Third, we plan to build 10 new cities. We already have a lot of cities in Delta State. You will agree that most of these cities are not properly planned. Asaba was a bit planned when compared to other existing cities. Every other city is just spreading and sprawling on its own. On this note, we plan to build 10 new cities that will be well-planned, well-managed and well-handled. The new cities will be the basis of turning the whole Delta into a huge metropolis.
Right now, Delta is getting to that point because Warri is going into Sapele. Warri is also spreading to Ughelli. But it is largely unplanned. Like I said, we are building 10 new cities driven by the private sector. The cities will be agro and tech-based.
It means there will be industries and land for agriculture. The cities will have an IT backbone so to speak. We ensure that each of the cities will have social housing programmes, which beneficiaries can pay for a number of years.
For instance, there is a young man who secured a loan of N1 million. In addition, land is a source of wealth creation. If he gets an allocation and a social housing unit, that will create wealth for him. He can begin to use such assets as collateral to secure more loans to do his business. It is basically what we have thought about to be integrative.
Lastly, we will revive our ports. We will as well revive moribound industries. We will emphasise power and gas utilisation. These are the key development drivers that we will leverage to drive the process of economic development and prosperity.
With a fiscal crisis that plagues nearly all states of the federation, where are you going to source for funds for the implementation of the plans you laid out?
When we began this conversation, I talked about local government. Today, there is no local government that does not have N100 million in this country. If you understand the way this country is run, you understand that the majority of those funds are not used for the local governments.
The first tollgate at the state level takes part of the funds. When the state takes its own, the local government chairman decides to take his own.
At the end, it is a little fraction that goes into development. When we block those loopholes that enable corruption and waste at the grassroots, the local governments will be accountable for every fund allocated to them.
As a result, there will be funds from that. We only need N2.5 billion per month to fund the social investment scheme. And the state earns about N16 billion or more per month.
From this figure, N2.5 billion is not too much to fund the social investment scheme every month given the multiplier effect of such a scheme on the state.
