As Delta State, and indeed Nigeria, searches for a new kind of leadership, the conversation has moved beyond mere politics. Deltans are no longer asking for who can shout the loudest, but who can deliver. The people are searching for a leader with Character, Competence, and capacity, the three Cs that define true leadership.

In Deacon Chris Iyovwaye, MD/CEO of Wellmann Group of Companies and Governorship Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Delta State, we find the complete expression of these three virtues.

1. CHARACTER: A MAN OF FAITH, INTEGRITY AND COMPASSION

Character is the foundation. Without it, competence is dangerous, and capacity is destructive.

The character of Deacon Chris Iyovwaye was forged not in affluence, but in humble beginnings. Born on February 24, 1964, in Warri, to the family of James Iyovwaye of Aghalokpe, Okpe LGA and Josephine Iyovwaye of Ekpan and Ewu, his story is one of grit and grace. From RCM School 1, Warri, to Urhobo College, Effurun, to the University of Benin, where he earned a degree in International Studies and Diplomacy, his journey has been that of a man who earned every step.

Before the boardrooms, he served as an Auxiliary Nurse at Avenue Specialist Hospital. He understood service. He later worked as a Quality Control Inspector at Delta Glass Company, Ughelli. He understood industry, discipline and standards. Those early years taught him empathy and exactness – two qualities lacking in many public officers today.

As a Deacon of the Living Faith Church, where he has served as Chairman, Financial Management Committee, Vice Chairman Deacons Board and Chairman, Local Church Council, his faith is not a Sunday affair. It is his compass. It reflects in his business ethics, where he insists on transparency, and in his life where he is known simply as “a man blessed to be a blessing.”

His character finds fullest expression in his philanthropy. Through the Deacon Chris Iyovwaye Foundation, he has quietly but consistently provided clean water for communities that government forgot, built shelters for the vulnerable, awarded scholarships to indigent students, supported small businesses and catered for widows, orphans and the elderly. He does not do it with cameras. He does it because that is who he is.

As 47th President of the Rotary Club of Warri, and as Chairman of the South-South Mobilisation and Advocacy Committee of the Eminent Patriots of Nigeria under Chief Emeka Anyaoku, his service has earned national respect. This is a man whose word is his bond.

2. COMPETENCE: FROM ZERO CAPITAL TO A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CONGLOMERATE

Competence is the ability to get results.

Deacon Chris Iyovwaye is not a man who inherited wealth. He started Wellmann Group of Companies with zero capital. Today, under his visionary leadership, Wellmann has become a multi-million-dollar conglomerate and a market leader in heavy lifting, modular weighing and jacking systems, marine and land transportation, engineering logistics and specialized project support services.

This is not small business. This is heavy engineering. This is the company that successfully transported a 3,800-ton cargo for Chevron – the single largest structure ever moved in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. Today, when major heavy structures must be moved anywhere in Nigeria, the first name they call is Wellmann.

To build such a company in Nigeria’s difficult terrain requires uncommon competence – technical knowledge, managerial acumen, financial discipline, safety consciousness and global best practices. He has done business across continents, built a global network, and yet remains a strong advocate of Nigeria’s Local Content Policy.

His competence is not only in business. He is an intellectual. His bestselling book, Hidden Treasures: An Exposition of the Rich Resources and Opportunities in the Niger Delta, is a development blueprint. It proves that he does not just see the Niger Delta’s problems, he sees its potentials and has documented how to convert those potentials to prosperity.

It is therefore no surprise that in 2025, The Guardian Newspaper named him among the Top 100 Strategic CEOs of Nigeria’s Most Transformative Companies, and Vanguard Newspaper honoured him as Logistics Icon, Personality of the Year.

This is proven competence. Not theory.

3. CAPACITY: THE ABILITY TO DO AND TO DELIVER

Capacity is what separates dreamers from deliverers. Many can talk, few have the capacity to execute.

Deacon Chris Iyovwaye has demonstrated capacity in three critical areas:

Economic Capacity: He built an institution that employs hundreds of Deltans directly and thousands indirectly. He knows how to create jobs because he has created jobs. He knows how to grow an economy because he has grown a business from nothing to a dominant force in Africa.

Managerial Capacity: He chairs multiple organizations – Wellmann Group, The Monarchy Center, Nest Monarchy Apartments. He leads the Urhobo College Old Students Association Worldwide as National President. He manages men, money and materials on a large scale. Governing Delta State requires this exact managerial capacity.

Visionary Capacity: He is not running for governor because he needs a job. He is running because he has a vision. A vision of an industrialized Delta, a prosperous Delta, a Delta where our ports work, where our youths are skilled and engaged, where agriculture is transformed and where government is transparent and accountable.

From his aspiration under the PDP in 2023 to his emergence in 2026 as the Governorship Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), his political journey has been consistent – a call to service, not a search for survival.

WHY CHARACTER, COMPETENCE AND CAPACITY MATTER NOW

Delta State does not need a learner. We do not need a man who will use four years to understand governance. We need a man who has built, who has managed, who has delivered, and who fears God.

Deacon Chris Iyovwaye brings character that can be trusted with our commonwealth, competence that can convert our hidden treasures to visible prosperity, and capacity to execute and deliver a reborn Delta State.

He is happily married to Deaconess Leri Irerhime Iyovwaye and blessed with four children – a stable family man who understands the value of family, which is the foundation of any stable state.

Deltans now have a clear choice. And in this man from Warri, whose life journey from RCM School 1 to the boardrooms of global energy giants is a testament to possibility, we find hope that the Delta of our dreams is possible.

He is not just prepared for the office. The office has been waiting for a man like him.

Judith Akatugba is the Head, Media, Publicity and Strategic Communication Directorate
Deacon Chris Iyovwaye Campaign Council, NDC, Delta State