Dr. Uduaghan promised to pursue with vigour the participation of oil producing communities in their naturally given resources to address years of neglect and insensitivity to their plight by the oil companies.
“My desire is to ensure that the 10 per cent equity participation by oil producing communities in oil companies sees the light of the day, my passion is to vigorously pursue this goal … this informed the decision to represent my people at the Senate”.
The former governor recalled that he withdrew from the race in 2015 to ensure that peace reigned in the state as he has always maintained that peace was more important than electoral victories.
“Despite the pressure from the good people of Delta South in 2015, I decided to step down, but looking at the horizon now, the issues that caused the security challenges that made me to shelve my ambition in 2015 are no longer there.
“I was commissioner for four years under Chief James Ibori and I was close to him. I knew what he was doing in terms of peace issues.
“I was the first state government official to enter into creeks to meet ex-militant chief, Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo in the heart of the Niger Delta as SSG to start negotiating peace with him.
“I did it severally when I was the governor of Delta State. At one of the outings, it was even the soldiers that pointed AK-47 at me when I was coming back.
“Sometimes, I would come back at night from negotiating peace, so I know the place in and out. I have been there in the day and at night, in fact, at one of them, I was sitting on a chair with about 20 of the boys with their guns, they were drinking, and we were there for three hours negotiating peace.
According to Uduaghan, from his experience, the military, as an enforcement body was not a permanent solution to the problems in the Niger Delta as they were not very familiar with the terrain.
“So when the thing is really happening, it requires mobilizing the young people to show them the terrain or to prevent the crisis.
“For us to move forward, we must have an enforcement body that includes the community; especially the youths in the community, since they know the terrain.
“It is easier for people in that area to try and carry out enforcement or execute security challenges; it is easier for people in that area to know those who are involved in illegal bunkering. There are two parts to it, there is the part of genuine agitation, which has now been mixed with criminality and the criminality seems to have overshadowed the genuine agitation.
“To deal with it, we need the local people to be involved in the security arrangement and that will require legislation. The Waterway Security Committee I put up for instance, there is no law backing it up, so we need to put up laws that will help us in moving forward in solving the Niger Delta crisis.
“Right now, there is no law and order in the Niger Delta and we need to come out with and remind ourselves of the existing laws and tailor them towards the issues in the Niger Delta so that we can have permanent peace. A lawmaker is to make law and that will be my cardinal point.
“Also, there is the issue of attracting things to your area. There are very few people in the National Assembly that I don’t know. I have the capacity to attract things to my area more than anybody on the field today.
Dr. Uduaghan, who promised not to collect his pension as a former governor while in the senate, also pledged to carry his constituents along by involving them in the lawmaking process and holding town hall meetings every six months.
“I am going to sign a contract with my people; the Senator-Citizens Contract. I have a group of lawyers who are already working on it,” he disclosed.
