Former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has publicly declared support for the creation of Anioma State, even as he criticised the approach being driven by Ned Nwoko.
Okowa made his position known during a consultation visit to APC leaders in Oshimili South held in Asaba, where he sought to dispel what he described as widespread misconceptions about his stance.
“Let me use five minutes to address this issue… there have been a lot of misconceptions on social media,” he said. “No Anioma son, I don’t believe there is any Anioma son that is opposed to the creation of Anioma State, not me as people try to portray.”
He, however, stressed that his support is conditional on what he described as a broadly inclusive framework. “The Anioma we wish for is where the nine local governments should be involved… the Anioma we wished for is the one that will be in the South-South with Asaba as headquarters,” Okowa stated.
The former governor also warned against any move to alter Asaba’s current status, describing such an idea as misguided. “Somebody who did not know how it came, how it happened wants to clear that bridge away—it’s terrible, it’s unwise and it’s not good to me,” he added.
On consultation, Okowa maintained that proponents of the current proposal must deepen engagement with stakeholders. “You must be in touch with your people, you must know what your people want,” he said. “When you believe you know it all, you will take the wrong path. I don’t know it all, but together we will know it all.”
He also questioned the timing of ongoing efforts, suggesting that expectations of immediate progress may be unrealistic. “If you know the timetable of the legislature, you will know they are winding up, so anybody who is talking about Anioma State this time is deceiving his people,” he said.
However, a political analyst and public commentator from Anioma, Stanley Mogekwu, has faulted Okowa’s position, describing it as inconsistent and lacking strategic clarity.
According to Mogekwu, “you cannot, on one hand, claim to support Anioma State and on the other hand dismiss the very process currently giving it national attention. That position comes across as contradictory.”
He argued that Okowa’s emphasis on consultation, while valid in principle, appears selective and politically convenient. “Consultation is important, but it should not be used as a blanket criticism to discredit ongoing efforts. Movements like this evolve, and no single phase can capture everyone at once,” he said.
Mogekwu also took issue with Okowa’s rejection of proposals that place Anioma State in the South-East, noting that the argument for regional balance cannot be ignored. “There is a broader national context to this conversation, especially with the imbalance in the number of states across regions. Dismissing that outright weakens the seriousness of the engagement,” he added.
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He further described Okowa’s comments on the legislative timeline as overly simplistic. “State creation is not an overnight process. Suggesting that current advocacy is deceptive because of legislative timing misses the point entirely—it is a long-term constitutional effort,” Mogekwu said.
The analyst concluded that the former governor’s intervention appears more aligned with political positioning than with advancing the Anioma cause. “At a time when clarity and leadership are needed, what we are seeing instead is an attempt to sit on both sides of the argument,” he stated.
As debate over the proposed Anioma State continues, Okowa’s remarks—and the reactions they have generated—underscore the growing divisions over both the process and politics shaping the agitation.
