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There are times when a government statement is so detached from the lived reality of the people it purports to govern that it demands something more than a rebuttal. It demands interrogation.

The latest proclamation by the Delta State Government that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori is moving to “boost Deltans’ purchasing power amid economic hardship” belongs squarely in that category. The declaration, delivered by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Charles Aniagwu, is dressed in the language of economic policy, “purchasing power”, “disposable income”, “multiplier effect”, “economic stimulation”, “investment opportunities”, “grassroots development” and “micro-level benefits”. It sounds sophisticated. But when the rhetoric is stripped away, what remains?

A 13th-month salary for civil servants noise. School renovations. Empowerment programmes yet to fully materialise. Road projects already being executed or promised. Prospective investments in poultry feed and agricultural inputs. And a general appeal to Deltans to remain hopeful. This is hardly the economic revolution the headline suggests.

Indeed, the timing and packaging of the announcement raise a legitimate question: Is the Oborevwori administration actually pursuing a purchasing-power policy, or is it packaging government activities for electoral consumption as the 2027 elections draw closer? That question cannot be dismissed as political mischief. It is a question of accountability.

THREE YEARS LATE, GOVERNMENT DISCOVERS PURCHASING POWER Governor Oborevwori has been in office for more than three years. For much of that period, Deltans have battled the brutal consequences of the economic crisis triggered by the removal of the petrol subsidy and aggravated by inflation, high transportation costs, rising food prices, unemployment and declining real incomes.

The pain did not begin yesterday. Families have been adjusting meals. Businesses have been cutting operating hours. Farmers have been struggling with input and transportation costs. Young people have been searching desperately for employment. Parents have been battling school expenses. Transport fares have risen. The cost of virtually everything has climbed.

And now, in the season of heightened political activity ahead of 2027, the Delta Government suddenly tells the people that it is “moving to boost purchasing power. One is compelled to ask: Where was this urgency during the first three years? Why did the government not, from the outset, develop a comprehensive state-level economic cushioning programme targeted at the millions of Deltans outside the civil service? Why is a government that has been in office since 2023 only now presenting a collection of programmes as though it has discovered the formula for putting money into people’s pockets? This is precisely why the announcement deserves suspicion.

THE 13TH-MONTH SALARY ARGUMENT DOES NOT ADD UP
Let us examine the commissioner’s most celebrated economic argument, the 13th-month salary. There is nothing wrong with paying workers a 13th-month salary. Indeed, at a time of economic hardship and declining real wages, anything that genuinely improves workers’ welfare is welcome. But the government must stop pretending that paying an additional month’s salary to state workers is equivalent to transforming the purchasing power of Deltans generally. It is not.

Aniagwu’s argument is that once the additional money gets into workers’ hands, they will spend it, and that spending will stimulate economic activity.

Of course they will spend it. What else would they do with money? Yet, that is not a profound economic discovery. The real question is scale. How many Deltans will benefit? What proportion of the state’s population do they represent? How much additional disposable income will actually enter the economy? How much will be spent within Delta? How much will immediately leave the state through food purchases, imported goods, rent, school fees, medical expenses and other expenditures?

And, most importantly, what measurable improvement in the purchasing power of the average Deltan will result? These are the questions the government did not answer.

Instead, Deltans are offered the simplistic proposition that government pays workers and workers spend money. That is not a statewide economic strategy. It is basic arithmetic dressed up as economic policy.

PURCHASING POWER IS NOT THE SAME THING AS GOVERNMENT PAYROLL

The fundamental error in the commissioner’s presentation is the apparent conflation of civil servants’ income with the purchasing power of Deltans. They are not the same thing.

The state civil service is only one segment of the population. What of the farmer What of the fisherman? What of the petty trader? What of the artisan? What of the unemployed graduate? What of the commercial driver? What of the private-sector worker? What of the woman selling food by the roadside? What of the thousands of young people trying to survive without stable employment? Will the 13th-month salary reach them? No.

Yet they constitute the economic majority whose purchasing power should concern a government genuinely interested in statewide welfare.

The Oborevwori administration therefore needs to explain why a policy benefiting a relatively narrow category of workers is being marketed as though it were an intervention for the entire population. A worker welfare policy is commendable. But worker welfare is not statewide economic transformation.

THE MOST DAMNING TEST: ASK THE PEOPLE ABOUT THEIR POCKETS
There is an easy way to test the government’s claim. Forget the speeches. Forget the press conferences. Forget the impressive terminology. Go into the markets. Go to the motor parks. Go to the farms. Go to the rural communities. Ask ordinary Deltans one simple question: “Is your money buying more today than it did three years ago?” The answers will probably be more revealing than any government presentation.

A person’s purchasing power is not determined by how many policy documents government has produced. It is determined by what that person’s income can actually buy.

If transport costs consume a larger proportion of household income, purchasing power has fallen. If food consumes more of household income, purchasing power has fallen. If rent, school fees and healthcare consume more of household income, purchasing power has fallen. If businesses must spend more to move goods and purchase inputs, purchasing power has fallen. That is the reality facing many Deltans. And no amount of governmental rhetoric can erase it.

THE RURAL-ROAD CONTRADICTION
The commissioner’s argument becomes even more difficult to digest because of the portfolio he occupies. Charles Aniagwu is the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information. He therefore ought to understand perhaps better than most members of the administration that a rural road is an economic policy.

A road determines whether a farmer can get produce to market. It determines whether a trader can restock cheaply. It determines whether a pregnant woman can reach a hospital. It determines whether children can get to school. It determines whether transporters can operate economically. It determines whether investors will venture into a community. It determines whether rural economies grow or die.

So let us ask the commissioner: Where is the purchasing-power revolution in Ebu, just to mention only one of the many communities in the state suffering the effect of dilapidated roads? The ancient agrarian community of Ebu in Oshimili North has reportedly endured decades of infrastructural neglect, with the Ebu–Ezi–Ukala Road remaining in deplorable condition and residents repeatedly crying out for intervention.

This is not merely a road. It is the economic artery of a farming community. When that road is bad, farmers pay more to transport produce. Traders pay more. Passengers pay more. Food becomes more expensive. Vehicles suffer more damage. Economic activity contracts.

And yet the government tells Deltans that road construction is part of its strategy to boost purchasing power. The question is obvious: When will that purchasing-power strategy reach Ebu and such other communities that dot Delta State? When? After another election? After another campaign? After another press conference? For a government whose Works Commissioner is specifically responsible for rural roads, the continued suffering of communities trapped behind failed rural infrastructure is not a peripheral issue. It is an indictment of the government’s own economic argument.

YOU CANNOT CLAIM TO LOWER PRICES WHILE IGNORING TRANSPORTATION COSTS
There is another elephant in the room.Transportation. The government cannot seriously discuss purchasing power without confronting the cost of moving people and goods around Delta State.

Every increase in transport cost eventually becomes an increase in the price of goods. The farmer pays more to move cassava. The trader pays more to move food. The manufacturer pays more to move raw materials. The worker pays more to get to work. The student pays more to get to school. The patient pays more to get to hospital. The consumer ultimately pays for all of it.

Transportation is, therefore, one of the most important determinants of purchasing power. What has the Oborevwori administration done about it? Where is the comprehensive transport intervention? Where is the affordable intra-state transport system? Where is the targeted support for economically vulnerable commuters? Where is the data showing that transport costs have fallen because of state intervention? Silence. And that silence is telling.

THE FEDERAL-ROAD EXCUSE DOES NOT ABSOLVE THE STATE
The government may say some of these roads are federal roads. True. But does the pothole know the difference between federal and state jurisdiction? Does the commercial driver care? Does the passenger care? Does the farmer care Does the dead vehicle tyre care? The shock absorbers, the tie rods. Does the pregnant woman traveling to hospital care?

The people using the roads are Deltans. The economic damage occurs inside Delta. The inflationary consequences are borne by Deltans. The state itself has previously undertaken remedial interventions on federal roads. So the issue is not whether the state can ever intervene. The issue is whether it has the political will to do so consistently and at the scale required.

With Delta’s improved financial position, the administration cannot reasonably argue that strategic palliative intervention on critical federal road corridors is beyond its capacity. The state can intervene and seek federal reimbursement or partnership. What it cannot do is watch citizens suffer and then hide behind jurisdiction while simultaneously proclaiming that it is committed to improving their purchasing power.

THE REVENUE QUESTION
And here is where the administration must confront its own success story. Delta has repeatedly celebrated its improved revenue position. Its internally generated revenue has risen dramatically, while the state has also operated with an enormous budgetary envelope. Excellent. But increased government revenue should produce increased public value. That is the social contract. The people should not merely hear that government is richer. They should feel the consequences of that improved fiscal capacity.

If government revenue has increased substantially, Deltans are entitled to ask: Where is the corresponding improvement in their economic circumstances? Where are the cheaper transport corridors? Where are the functioning rural roads? Where are the mass employment opportunities? Where are the industrial investments? Where is the transformation of agricultural value chains? Where are the thriving small businesses? Where is the massive youth employment programme? Where is the measurable reduction in the cost of living?

Government revenue is not an achievement if citizens remain economically distressed. The real achievement is what that revenue does for citizens.

SCHOOL RENOVATION IS NOT A MAGIC MULTIPLIER
The commissioner also points to school rehabilitation. Again, nobody in his right mind would oppose fixing schools. But government must not turn every public works contract into an economic miracle.

The claim is that contractors, artisans, suppliers and traders will benefit. Fine. Then publish the numbers. How many local contractors? How many local artisans? How much local material? How many jobs? How much money will remain in each community? How many small businesses will participate?

What percentage of the procurement will go to indigenous enterprises? Without those numbers, “multiplier effect” remains a convenient phrase. Government expenditure does not automatically become economic development. Who receives the money matters.

EMPOWERMENT IS NOT A BENEFICIARY LIST
Then comes the promise of empowerment. Government agencies are to identify beneficiaries. But identifying beneficiaries is not empowerment. Registration is not empowerment. Training is not empowerment. Photographs of beneficiaries receiving equipment are not empowerment. The real test is what happens six months or one year later.

Are the businesses still operating? Are jobs being sustained? Has household income increased? Has the beneficiary stopped depending on government? Can the beneficiary access additional credit? Has production increased? Has the business expanded? Those are the questions.

If the administration wants Deltans to take its empowerment programme seriously, it should publish a transparent database of beneficiaries, the value of interventions and measurable outcomes. Anything less leaves room for the programme to be interpreted as another politically convenient distribution mechanism. And the timing makes scrutiny even more necessary.

THE YOUTH QUESTION IS THE ELEPHANT THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WANT TO SEE
Perhaps nowhere is the hollowness of the purchasing-power narrative more visible than among Delta’s youths. A state cannot claim to be economically empowering its people while thousands of young people remain outside productive employment.

The youth do not need another speech about “skills”. They need economic ecosystems in which those skills can generate income. They need industries. They need technology hubs. They need apprenticeships. They need agricultural processing plants. They need access to affordable capital. They need functioning roads. They need reliable electricity. They need markets. They need jobs. They need a government that sees youth employment not as a periodic empowerment exercise but as a central economic strategy.

A young man who has been unemployed for years does not become economically empowered because government says an empowerment agency is “identifying beneficiaries”. He becomes empowered when he has a sustainable source of income. That is the distinction government appears unwilling to confront.

THE LANGUAGE OF “WILL” IS BECOMING TIRESOME
There is another revealing feature of the commissioner’s proclamation. Much of it is about what government will do. It will intensify programmes. It will identify beneficiaries. It will attract investment. It will stimulate economic activity. It will improve purchasing power. It will create opportunities. But after more than three years, Deltans deserve fewer promises and more audited results. A newly inaugurated government can talk about what it intends to do. A government deep into its tenure should increasingly be talking about what it has done.

That distinction matters enormously. Because the 2027 election season is no longer some distant possibility. It is upon us. And suddenly, every government activity is acquiring an economic-development narrative. That is precisely why citizens must be vigilant.

IS THIS GOVERNANCE OR CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATION?

Let us be clear. There is nothing wrong with government communicating its achievements. There is nothing wrong with explaining policies to citizens. There is nothing wrong with defending an administration’s record. But government communication becomes suspect when it begins to sound more like campaign advertising than accountability. The headline itself is revealing:“Oborevwori Moves to Boost Deltans’ Purchasing Power Amid Economic Hardship.”

Moves. Not “has boosted.” Not “Deltans’ purchasing power rises.” Not “new jobs slash unemployment.” Not “transport costs fall across Delta.” Not “food prices decline.” Not “rural farmers record increased incomes.” Moves. In other words, the government is asking citizens to celebrate an intention. But intentions are not results. And after three years, the people are entitled to results.

Deltans Are Not Fools

Perhaps the greatest mistake the government can make is to underestimate the intelligence of the people. Deltans know when a road is bad. They know when transport fares increase. They know when food becomes more expensive. They know when their children cannot find jobs.

They know when their businesses are struggling. They know when their income no longer stretches to the end of the month. They know the difference between a government announcement and a government achievement.

They also understand election-year politics. That is why the Oborevwori administration should be careful about turning legitimate public policies into political merchandise. The people are not asking for propaganda. They are asking for performance. They are not asking government to tell them that it is “working”. They want to know what the work has produced.

SHOW US THE PURCHASING-POWER SCORECARD

If the administration is genuinely convinced that it is improving purchasing power, there is an easy way to silence its critics. Publish the data.
Show Deltans: How much has household disposable income increased since 2023? How much have transport costs fallen? How many jobs have been created? How many young people have moved into sustainable employment? How many rural roads have been completed? How many kilometres of rural roads have been rehabilitated? How many farmers have recorded increased incomes? How many MSMEs have received sustainable financing? How many empowerment beneficiaries remain economically active after one year? How many new factories have commenced actual production?

How many investors attracted through government summits have put money into operating businesses? What measurable economic impact will the 13th-month salary have beyond the civil service? These are the figures that matter. Not press conferences. Not slogans. Not political declarations.

THE FINAL VERDICT

The Oborevwori administration may indeed have undertaken worthwhile projects. The 13th-month salary may benefit civil servants. School rehabilitation is necessary. Road construction is necessary. Empowerment is necessary. Investment attraction is necessary. But none of these should be exaggerated into a comprehensive purchasing-power transformation without evidence. The people deserve more intellectual honesty.

If the government wants to improve purchasing power, it must address the fundamentals: Increase people’s incomes. Reduce the cost of transportation. Fix rural roads. Support farmers. Create jobs. Build industries.

Make credit accessible. Support young entrepreneurs. Reduce the cost of doing business. Improve public services. Make government expenditure produce measurable household benefits. That is economic policy. Everything else is packaging.

And so, when the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information stands before Deltans and declares that the Oborevwori administration is moving to boost their purchasing power, the appropriate response is not applause. It is a question: Where is it? Where is the purchasing power? Where is the economic relief? Where are the jobs? Where are the cheaper roads? Where is the transport relief? Where is the rural transformation? Where is the youth employment? Where is the measurable improvement in household welfare?

After more than three years in office, Deltans have every right to demand answers. Because government is not judged by how eloquently it describes its intentions. It is judged by how profoundly those intentions change the lives of the people.

And if the grand purchasing-power proclamation amounts essentially to a 13th-month salary, some school renovations, prospective investments and another round of empowerment promises, then Deltans would be justified in asking whether they are witnessing an economic intervention, or simply an election-season repackaging of government activities.

The people deserve better than political economics. They deserve economic reality. And they deserve it before the ballot box, not because of it.