By DADA AYOKHAI
Respondents across Etsako Federal Constituency have accused critics of Hon. Sunday Dekeri, the member representing Etsako at the National Assembly, of making him a whipping boy among other Etsako sons holding political offices.
According to the respondents, all office holders must be assessed, not just picking one out as a whipping boy.
The statement by the respondents is in reaction to Hon. Dekeri’s recently concluded ward tour, which has suddenly become a yardstick to assess his over three years in office.
While some rate his performance as good and deserving of a return ticket to the House, others feel his performance is below expectation.
The respondents noted that Etsako boasts of Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Hon. Abubakar Momoh as Minister, Prince Kassim Afegbua and Hon. Yakubu Oshiorenua as aides to the Governor, among others.
Furthermore, they stated that Etsako has four commissioners, four House of Assembly members and several Special Assistants, and that if all these people put in the same energy as Danco, the federal constituency would be better off.
Hon. Dekeri, popularly known as Danco from Etsako East LGA, a first-timer, recently conducted a ward tour during which selected market women from the 32 wards across the federal constituency were empowered with N50,000 each.
During the tour, some renovated schools were commissioned, transformers were donated, along with a couple of other projects.
Observers, however, say the debate over Dekeri’s performance has reopened a bigger question about what Etsako as a whole has benefited under the Tinubu administration, despite its strategic place in the ruling APC. With Senator Oshiomholes a ranking senator and close ally of the President, and Hon. Abubakar Momoh as Minister of Regional Development, expectations were high that federal presence would be more visible in the area.
While appointments represent political inclusion at the top, many residents argue that this has not translated into tangible infrastructural or economic gains for the average Etsako person. Key federal roads linking Etsako, particularly the Auchi – Okene axis and inner roads connecting the three local government areas, remain in deplorable condition, youth unemployment remains high, and there are few federal projects or industries directly credited to the current administration in the constituency.
Stakeholders therefore contend that assessing Dekeri in isolation misses the point. They argue that the combined influence of Etsako’s political heavyweights in the Tinubu government should have attracted more federal interventions, appointments for the youth, and empowerment programmes beyond ward-level cash support, to justify the block support Etsako has consistently given to the APC.
