DELTA 2015: APC GOVERNORSHIP CANDIDATE COMMENDS NIGERIAN JOURNALISTS FIGHTING SPIRIT, TO BOOST SMEs WITH N10 BILLION INITIAL FUNDING

By Francis Sadhere

All Progressives Congress (APC), governorship candidate in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor has said that the Nigerian Press is one of the most vibrant in the world and commended the fighting spirit of the nation’s Journalists, especially in their concerted efforts towards the restoration of constitutional democracy at a time the military held Nigerians to ransom.

He gave the commendation recently during a media chat with Journalists in Lagos. He said it is on record that Nigerian Journalists spoke with one voice against military editorship during the dark days of military era where some of our leaders were being hunted, killed, jailed or forced to go on exile for their patriotism for the good of our country.

Olorogun Emerhor, a member of the Order of the Niger (OON), posited that survival of democracy will also largely depend on the professional contributions of members of the mass media, such that balanced stories and unbiased reporting of political events will create healthy competition and bring out the very best of ideas from candidates and political parties in the forthcoming elections and beyond.

Answering a question which bordered on poverty and high rate of unemployment in Delta State in particular and Nigeria in general, the APC candidate promise to tackle unemployment and poverty head-long, such that he would inject an initial N10 billion Naira within his first one hundred days in office to assist petty traders, market women, cassava farmers, fishermen and women as well as small scale entrepreneurs’ who have business ideas that requires financial assistance to actualize.

He said the funds shall be disbursed through micro-finance banks and other local financial institutions through what he called “Access Points” in the local communities, pointing out that the selection process for disbursement shall be transparent without political party affiliations so that qualified Deltans can access the funds without any internal or external influence and political godfatherism.

Olorogun Emerhor urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do the needful within its capacity to conduct free and fair elections during the forthcoming general elections across the country so as not to provoke further violence and insecurity. He said Nigerians are very much concerned about the outcome of the 2015 elections which is why INEC must call its Electoral Commissioners and other auxiliary staff to order as regard temptation to collect gratifications or bride in order to ring elections.

The APC gubernatorial candidate told the senior editors from both print and electronic media that he deliberated picked a refined journalist as his running mate to express his gratitude to the Nigerian press for their enviable contributions towards National building, pointing out that the choice of Mr. Felix Akugha, an Executive Director (News and Current Affairs) of the African Independent Television (AIT) is to further reawaken the importance of the Press as fourth estate in the realm, contained  under section 39 of Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

He is optimistic that his party, the APC will win both the presidential and gubernatorial elections across the states of the federation because of the desires of Nigerians, who are frustrated over the sixteen years of the PDP misrule, adding that APC has been accepted by majority of Nigerians as the alternative national party that will salvage and rescue the country from the massive corruption regime of the PDP.