FULL TEXT OF RT. HON. SHERIFF OBOREVWORI’S SPEECH AFTER RECEIVING HIS CERTIFICATE OF RETURN AS GOVERNOR-ELECT OF DELTA STATE.
“I have just been presented with the Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arising from my emergence as the Governor-Elect of Delta State on March 20, 2023. With the issuance of the Certificate of Return, we must now turn our attention to ensuring a seamless and stable transition in pursuant of my Advancing Delta agenda.
“On a day like this, it is important that I acknowledge and thank all those who worked tirelessly to bring us to where we are today. First, I wish to, once again, appreciate the leader of our great party, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa under whose able and wise leadership the PDP in Delta State has remained strong and formidable. Our massive victory may have come to some as a surprise but not to us because we know Deltans are happy with the excellent performance of Governor Okowa.
“Our victory is a testament to this fact. It was as comprehensive as it was decisive; the PDP won in all the 17 Local Government Areas in the North and South senatorial districts. In the Delta Central senatorial district, we won in four out of the eight Local Government Areas. But even more significant was our victory in Ethiope East Local Government Area which had eluded the PDP since the current democratic dispensation began in 1999.
“Let me also thank our former Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, for his exemplary courage and statesmanship. Dr Uduaghan was in the trenches with us, he went out of his way to reconcile aggrieved persons in order to ensure that the party was united going into this battle. Thank you, sir, for your leadership and commitment.
“I thank the Chairman of our party, Barrister Kingsley Esiso for his doggedness. I doff my hat to the elders/founding fathers of our party, all the members of the campaign council, party leaders at various levels and the various support groups that stood solidly behind me.
“My gratitude also goes to civil servants, retirees, organized labour, youths, professionals, student groups, traditional rulers, religious leaders, artisans, market women and all those who laboured in one way or the other for this victory. Thank you all for staying the course. I assure you that your labour shall not be in vain.
“Let me specially appreciate my wife, my children and family members for their prayers, support, encouragement and steadfastness all through the electioneering process . May God bless you for this show of love and care. In the final analysis, the glory belongs to God, maker of the heaven and the earth, and from whom all power flows.
“In due course, the Government shall be unfolding a Transition Committee that will midwife my inauguration on May 29, 2023. Until then, I implore all Deltans and residents to remain prayerful, peaceful, and law abiding.”
