• Sun. May 18th, 2025

I AM A FORMIDABLE CANDIDATE- Engr. Doris Uboh

Oct 1, 2018

Hon. Engr. Doris Uboh, is an Ekuku Agbor born Senatorial Aspirant under the All Progressives Congress, (APC). She was born into the family of Late Chief M.S.C. Uboh the Akwe of Ekuku Agbor and Maria Uboh from Owa Alizomor.

 

          Engr. Doris Uboh had her childhood days in Ekuku Agbor and Lagos State. Her teenage /adult years were spent in America. She attended Ekuku Agbor grammar school from where she moved to America for higher education. She attended Hope City College in Chigaco USA. She also went to New York Institute of technology, where she bagged a Bsc. degree in electrical engineering. She also studied at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

 

          Done with schooling, she worked as an analyst for an insurance company called American International Group in Wall Street, New York. She spent over 13years in the United State before returning to Nigeria to start her own construction company, Dagasteel International Limited, in Lagos.  She prides herself as a grassroot politician who earns her living from her company, and not politics.

 

          Engr. Doris Uboh represented Ika Federal Constituency at the Federal House of Representative for one term with a robust score card that includes: sponsoring of 3 bills, 30 self sponsored projects, employment, health care development, construction of class room blocks, constituency projects amongst others.

 

In this exclusive interview Engr. Doris Uboh granted Ika Weekly Newspaper, she bares her mind on the issues in Ika politics and her Delta North Senatorial Ambition in 2019.

 

Excerpts below:

 

When did you venture into politics?

I ventured into politics in 2006; I have always loved the game. My father was a politician. Prior to joining politics in 2006, I was a member of Delta State Think Thank Development committee from 1999, until it was dissolved in 2007.  Politics for me is service to humanity.

 

What are your intentions come 2019?

I am running for Senate, to represent the good people of Delta North under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

 

When did you join APC?

I moved to APC in 2016 after I left Accord Party in 2014.

 

Why did you choose the APC, Engr. Doris Uboh ?

It is the only Progressive Party in Nigeria; it is the only Party that practices inclusiveness and carries everyone along, irrespective of class or background.

 

What are your notable achievements as a onetime House of Representative member?

My achievements are so many.  They cut across infrastructural development, Human capital development, reduction of unemployment,   giving jobs to Ika people in government and private parastatals for free.

If the people of Delta North want to enjoy more of the things I did while I was a House of Representative Member, then they should bring me on board by voting me into office. Like I said earlier, politics is service to humanity, places like Baleke Market, Dein’s palace road, Abavo palace, Umunede market to Emuhu community and many others: I did water projects, most of which are still functioning. I maintained, them while in office for four years. They are all viable projects which anyone from such communities can attest to. Most secondary schools are still using the science equipment I supplied to them free of charge till date. I bought equipments for Ika grammars school, Gbenoba grammar school, Ekuku Agbor grammar school, Ogbemudein grammar school; Abavo Mixed Secondary School, amongst others. For me, that is what service is all about.

I helped our women in their businesses; I pointed them towards the right direction. I signed as guarantor for some, and others, I funded from my pocket up to two hundred and fifty thousand naira to help expand their businesses and alleviate their sufferings. I could do all these effortlessly because I was brought up that way. I grew up in a home where most of the people in my house were not born by my parents, but they were all my brothers and sisters.

 

If elected as the Senator to Represent Delta North Senatorial District, what should the people expect?

They should expect more of what I did as a House of Reps. Member. Delta North contributes so much to the nations building, one of the highest gas deposits is in Ndokwa East, particularly Okpai Community, yet there are no roads, no water, they have epileptic power supply.  What stops the community from having a bridge?  What stops the community from having water scheme? Most communities in Ndokwa nation are impoverished. My community Ekuku Agbor has three oil wells, yet there is nothing to show for it in the community.

 

All these are not as a result of the Federal Government, but as a result of the fact that those at the helm of affairs in Delta North do not love the people. To access Oko Community in Oshimili South, one has to go through Anambra State to get there, people should know their right. There is a part of the constitution that allows those elected into office to be recalled if they are not representing the people well, so that those who can do the right thing by giving good representation can be put in charge.

There is governance and there is government. In most cases in Nigeria, we run government, we don’t care about governance. If you care about governance, you will care about the people. Unfortunately, most governments don’t care about the people.

 

What wrong do you think the incumbent is doing that you hope to right?

He is not representing the people, he is representing himself. Even in his village: Igbuzor, there are no roads, most places are water logged. It is quite unfortunate.

 

Would you say you are you a better candidate?

I am a formidable candidate, I am equal to none. Not to blow my own horn, those who went to the House of Reps before and after me should be asked to present their score cards against mine, and let the public judge.

 

Do you subscribe to the zoning formula?

It is what we practice, and it has come to stay. That is the reason the federal government established a federal character to regulate zoning. It is embedded in every Nigerian.  Due to the diverse cultures we have in Nigeria, the federal character is in order. I never heard of the zoning formula in America until I returned to Nigeria.

 

Coming home to Ika nation, do you agree that it is the turn of Ika South to produce the next House of Representative Member?

It has been the turn of Ika South since 2011. It has been long overdue. Ika South people should wake up and fight for themselves.  Nobody will give them the position on a platter of gold. If Ika North East is given the chance, they will go back again and again. The political structure in Ika South is gradually being enslaved, maybe they will realize that 10 years from now. When I campaigned in 2015, it was my slogan, I asked some stakeholders in Ika South to join me in appealing/fighting for the House of Reps position, while governorship position was going to Ika North East, but they failed to act. Only for them to cry foul a year after the election.

When they look at the political structure in Ika land ten years from now and there is no viable Ika South person that can stand toe to toe with Ika North East politicians, then they will realize what I am talking about. I say this because I am both from Ika North East and South. Ika North East people are better politicians than their Ika South counterparts because they know what they want, when they need it and how to go for it while my Ika South, brothers and sisters are asleep.

 

Engr. Doris Uboh are there House Reps Aspirants from APC in Ika South?

Yes, there are many aspirants. Part of the reason I am running for senate is to give room to some other aspirants from Ika South and North to aspire.  I am shocked no aspirant from Ika South picked the ticket.  What are they afraid of? Why do they leave their faith in the hand of a fellow man? Why do you wait for someone to always say where the pendulum swings? I just don’t understand the way people think.  What is wrong with running and failing? Failing is a learning process, if you don’t fail, you don’t learn.   Why does an average Ika man wait for someone to anoint him and give him his blessing? Is he God? Why wait for someone to tell you what time to run for an election? President Buhari failed so many times; he became the poster child of electoral failure until God smiled on him. But an average Ika man is waiting till someone asks him to run. The power lies in your hands as an individual, only you can tell yourself what you want, and go for what you want. Even if you go for it and fail, it is not the end of the world. Scientists who bring about innovations carry out lots of  failed lab tests, until they get it right. If they are afraid of failure, the world will not be where we are today.

 

What is your take on money bag /politics of god fatherism?

It was not like this when I first came into active politics. It is gradually becoming an endemic and I think the earlier we nip it in the bud, the better for us. People sell their conscience and souls for peanut. If a candidate is not willing to involve in it, the next candidate does it. It is a shame that the society is deteriorating to that level. I pray there is a way for us to curb it because we really have to do something about it.

 

If given the mandate, what legacies will you like to leave behind in Delta North?

I will leave the same legacies I left in Ika nation and even more.

 

Who are your role models?

My role models are God and my parents.

 

What are your words for Ika South Electorate?

My words for them are; wake up, take your fate in your hands.

 

What are your words for Delta North Electorate?

I urge them to pick the right candidate who will serve them better, not one who will service their pockets for that moment. Five thousand naira will only last a day or two. They should think of the future, not the politics of now.