Delta North 2027: Inside Okowa’s Senate Bills Touching Thousands of Lives Through Health Insurance

For Mrs. Felicia Okonta, a hospital bill could have cost her family land. For Jideose Eboka, joblessness should have cost him his future. Both stories point to one man.

In Agbor, Mrs. Felicia Okonta still remembers the day doctors said her child needed surgery at Central Hospital. In the past, that would have meant selling a plot of land or borrowing at outrageous interest. This time, she brought out a small blue card — her Delta Contributory Health Insurance card.

"If not for the health insurance Okowa started, we would have sold our land to pay hospital bills. Now my family can go to the hospital without fear," she told BIGPEN.

Three local government areas away in Ika North East, Jideose Eboka now signs invoices as CEO of StephJay Electricals. A few years ago, he was an unemployed youth with no direction.

For him, opportunity came not from a godfather, but from a skills acquisition programme called RYSA. Trained in Electrical Engineering, he built his own path.

"The programme came at a time when opportunities were uncertain, giving me the skills and foundation to build my own path," Jideose wrote days ago. He now employs two others and is calling on Delta North to vote for the man who trained him — Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.

These two stories — one of health, one of jobs — are at the heart of the debate in Anioma today as Okowa eyes a return to the Senate in 2027 under the APC.

In a social media post that has gone viral across Delta North, Okowa wrote: "Every voice matters. Every group has a place in our shared journey... We cannot move forward as individuals. We must rise together, stand together, and advance together, as one people with one shared purpose."

For Okowa, “Together, we will listen, deliberate, and act with a common purpose, ensuring that every community is heard, every interest is respected, and our people have the strong and effective representation they deserve…. 

The hashtags were deliberate: #ForwardTogether #MakaOganihuAnioma.

But what did Okowa actually do in his first stint in the Senate from 2011 to 2015 before becoming governor? And why does he want to go back after eight years as governor?

BIGPEN findings show his biggest legacy was not roads, but a bill.

As a medical doctor in the 7th Senate, Okowa sponsored the National Health Insurance Commission Act Amendment Bill that pushed for mandatory health insurance and expansion to the informal sector and vulnerable groups. That bill laid the foundation for what later became the Delta State Contributory Health Commission (DSCHC) he replicated as governor — a model now copied by several states.

Today, that scheme is what civil servants and political office holders in Delta are enjoying most.

Under his policy direction, all workers in Delta State including all Political Office holders, were registered into the Scheme from the State Payroll Records as mandatory enrollees, with the government paying the counterpart funding. Today, over 1.8 million Deltans are enrolled. A civil servant, his spouse, and up to 4 children under 18 are covered with just 10% co-pay for drugs. A Level 8 officer who would have paid N150,000 for surgery now accesses care at over 500 accredited centres, including Central Hospital Agbor and FMC Asaba, with his card.

Pregnant civil servants get free antenatal and delivery, children under 5 get free treatment — a direct offshoot of Okowa's Senate motions demanding increased budgetary allocation for primary healthcare and free treatment for under-five and pregnant women. Those motions later influenced the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) in the National Health Act.

Mrs. Augustina Nwabunor, a civil servant in Oshimili South, told BIGPEN: "Since Okowa enrolled us in this health insurance, I no longer borrow to treat my children. My card works in Asaba, Agbor and even Warri. It is the one policy that directly touched our lives." 

A DSCHC Identity Card is used to identify the worker at the hospital they choose to attend for healthcare services. This is a standard process in all Health Insurance Programs all over the world.

His other health legacy — the Federal Medical Centres Establishment Bills — led to the creation and upgrade of FMCs in underserved states. Delta North benefited directly through improved funding for FMC Asaba.

At his consultation with Ika North East elders, Okowa said the Senate is not an entry-level institution. "My return to the Red Chamber would be marked by an indelible legacy that will stand the test of time," he said, promising more people-centred federal projects.

As governor 2015-2023 under “SMART” and "Stronger Delta" Agenda, his footprints in Delta North are still visible: dualization of Maryam Babangida Way, Summit Road, Okpanam Road, DLA Road, Nnebisi Road, Cable Point Dual Carriageway and multi-billion naira Asaba Storm Drainage; Beneku Bridge linking Ndokwa East, Obo River Bridge in Ogwashi-Uku; rejuvenation of Obomkpa, Issele-Uku, Onicha-Olona, Ubulu-Uku, Ubulu-Unor and erosion control in Agbor; transformation of Asaba Airport with new terminal and night landing; 65,000sqm Prof. Chike Edozien Secretariat; and establishment of three universities including University of Delta, Agbor.

Okowa, is widely credited with the radical transformation and completion of the multi-million naira Stephen Keshi Stadium. The facility which is located in the Anioma city of Asaba, was previously an abandoned township stadium project for nearly two decades. Under Okowa's administration, it was rebuilt to world-class standards and commissioned in November 2018. Boasting a fully covered, 22,000-to-23,000-seat capacity and IAAF-certified tracks, the arena has since achieved FIFA accreditation. It famously hosted major international events like the 2018 African Senior Athletics Championships (Asaba 2018), the 21st National Sports Festival (Delta 2022), and high-profile Super Eagles international friendlies.

But for Felicia and Jideose, governance is not about kilometres of roads and other infrastructures. It is about a hospital card that saved land and a skill that created a CEO.

By Joe Ogbodu

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