Politics

Battle For Delta: Obidients Threaten Oborevwori, Omo-Agege’s Chances

Published

1 year ago

March 9, 2023

Editor

THere is a great probability that the upshots of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections may affect the voting pattern in the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in some states of the South-South particularly Delta State, on Saturday but the certainty is subject to changeable political dynamics.

In Delta State, for instance, where the leading governorship candidates are Sheriff Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the exploit of the Labour Party, LP, in the polls in question, has made the underrated “Obidients” an important factor in the March 11 polls.

Mind you, Obidients are not members of the LP alone. They are groups of citizens, especially youths with permanent voter’s cards, PVCs, who believe that it is time to flush away the old brigade of politicians ruling the country and states, all these years, so that fresh hands çould be installed.

They are more in number than registered political party members, who make the loudest noise during elections.

Sherrif Oborevwori, speaker of Delta State House of Assembly and the standard-bearer of the ruling PDP, who is the candidate to beat on March 11, has anxiously lobbied the “Obidients” in the state for support, in the past few days.

APC’s Ovie Omo-Agege, who is the Deputy Senate President; Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi of the Social Democratic Party, SDP; Chief Great Ogboru of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; Comrade Sunny Ofehe, of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, are also in pursuit of the “Obidients”, even though the LP has a governorship candidate in the person of Ken Pela.

The governorship candidates are not the only ones tracking the “Obidients.” The House of Assembly candidates are trailing the LP revolutionists to churches, markets, and every public places they know they are gathered in their areas, seeing what they did on February 25. The fear of the Obidients is now the commencement of political wisdom in Delta State.

Following reports that the LP was negotiating with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa ahead of Saturday’s polls, the state chairman, Tony Ezeagwu, during the week, disowned the claim, saying the party has its candidate, Ken Pela.”

LP not discussing with Okowa, others

“I want the general public to know that the LP in Delta State has no business with Governor Okowa, the PDP, or any other party in the state. As a party, we have not discussed anything of such with Okowa, we have not even held any meeting with him, and we do not intend to do so.”

Curiously, while Ezeagwu said LP had no business with PDP or any other party, a coalition of support groups for Peter Obi in the state, led by Mr. Ochuko Edafe, Monday, in Asaba, pitched tent with Omo-Agege, saying the Obidients in the state would vote him because he is the most credible candidate for governor.

Indeed, the LP shook the table in Delta on February 25 with PDP losing 18 out of the 25 local government areas in the state to the LP.

It lost two House of Representatives seats to the LP. Mr. Ngozi Okolie, who flew the party’s flag in Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency, defeated the Minority Leader of the House and candidate of the PDP, Ndudu Elumelu.

Former member of the House of Representatives, Evelyn Oboro, who flew the flag of the PDP in the Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie federal constituency bowed to LP’s Ben Etenabene.

APC, which is the main opposition party in the state, won the Delta South and Delta Central senatorial seats, threatening the chances of PDP, which only won the Delta North senatorial seat in the March 11 polls. However, PDP won six House of Representative seats in the state, APC- one, and LP – two.

Many think the upsets may affect the Governorship and House of Assembly elections with the LP candidate, Ken Pela, becoming a major beneficiary. Nevertheless, it does not appear so on the ground.

Saturday’s governorship battle is likely to be a different ball game between Oborevwori, who has the support of youths across the state because of his sociable nature, and Omo-Agege, propelled more by politicians, who lost out in the power game with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the main promoter of Oborevwori, and some citizens that feel disgruntled with PDP in the state.

Despite contesting on the platform of SDP, Gbagi, a lawyer and former Minister of State, Education, is on a firm pedestal as one of the frontrunners. The combined factors of a respectable background and a broad-based vision of governance have had a tremendous impact on his penetration of demographic groups with the resultant swell of a support base for him across the 25 local government areas of Delta State.

It is to his credit that he had stayed the course since 2019 when he unveiled interest in occupying the plum position. The serial endorsements of the SDP candidate by Deltans is an approbation of Gbagi’s six-point agenda primed to usher in all-around development and progress, industrialisation, enhanced security, quality education, job creation and women and youth empowerment.

To a large extent, Gbagi’s presence in the race has promoted greater scrutiny of the moral character and antecedents of those seeking the governorship office. His disposition towards probity, transparency and frugality in resource management added to his unblemished record in public service provides a counterpoise to the alleged corrupt background and unexplained wealth allegedly associated with some of the top contestants. Gbagi, who sees himself as the biggest investor in Delta and said the era of the experiment was gone, Delta must be run by a wealth creator and someone with the experience and capacity to turn the fortunes of the state around.

Related Topics:APC Delta Delta governorship PDP

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Politics

Atiku Hints On Supporting Obi For 2027 Presidential Race

Published

1 day ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said that if in 2027, the party decides that it is the South-East’s turn and selects Peter Obi as its candidate, he will readily offer his support.

“I have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won’t contest it. As long as it’s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party.

“If the party decides that it’s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi is chosen, I won’t hesitate to support him,” Atiku declared in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service.

He added that a merger between the PDP and Labour Party is possible.

Atiku added that members of the party would decide his fate in the 2027 general elections.

The former Vice President mentioned that his recent meeting with Obi might indicate a possible alliance leading up to the 2027 general elections.

Responding to questions about the meeting with Obi, Atiku said, “It’s just a normal friendly meeting that we often have, particularly among us in the opposition parties. Such meetings are healthy for Nigeria’s democracy and in the country’s interest.”

On whether this will bring about a merger, he said, “Yes, it’s very much possible. We can merge to achieve a common goal. So, it’s possible, and nothing can stop it if we wish to achieve that.”

The former Vice President, who denied that the choice of presidential candidate might frustrate the merger discussion, said, “That’s not true. That challenge will not arise. I can tell you that the choice of who will fly the flag of the party won’t be an issue.”

On why he’s still in active politics, Atiku said, “Yes, we can’t keep quiet and watch things go wrong. People are suffering and we are committed to making Nigeria a better place.

“It means you are not tired of politics of Nigeria? Not at all. I am still in active politics in Nigeria, at least, as long as God permits.

“My age doesn’t stop the young ones from testing their fate. Everybody, irrespective of age, is allowed to aspire to be anybody in the society, politically or otherwise.”

Regarding his 2027 Presidential ambition, the former Vice President said “That would depend on the decision of my party. I can’t make any categorical statement on that. It’s the duty of the party to decide on the way to go in the next election.

“Until that time comes. Let’s just wait and see how it will turn out.

“It must not be interpreted like that. I must not be eyeing elections to have meetings with political friends and associates. Currently, we are practising democracy in this country which we fought for with our blood.”

Last week, Obi held a private meeting with Atiku and some other PDP leaders in Abuja.

Obi also met separately with former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and former Senate President Bukola Saraki, sparking speculation about a possible coalition for the 2027 general elections.

Obi was a PDP member until 2022, when he left to pursue his presidential ambitions with the Labour Party.

He finished third behind Atiku in the February 23 presidential election, which was won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku blamed Obi’s departure from the PDP for his loss to Tinubu.

Analysts argued that Atiku’s 6,984,520 votes combined with Obi’s 6,101,533 votes could have secured a win against Tinubu, who received 8,794,726 votes.

Monday’s meeting marked the first public interaction between Obi and Atiku since the election.

Social media and online platforms were flooded with viral photos of Obi’s meetings with the three PDP figures on Monday.

In 2019, Atiku and Obi ran together on the PDP ticket but were defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

However, due to internal conflicts, Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in 2019, left the PDP and ran as the Labour Party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Politics

JUST IN: Ex-PDP Deputy National Chair, Oyedokun Defects To APC

Published

3 days ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, has resigned his membership of the party and announced defection to the All Progressives Congress.

Oyedokun, a notable personality within the political circle in Osun State and beyond, said he decided to dump the PDP after consultation with his loyalists.

He said he would be joining APC, where his experience, efforts, and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.

His resignation letter addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP through the ward, local government and state chairmen of the party obtained late Thursday further read, “As a functional member and leader of PDP (Ward 13, Jagun/ Osi-Bale Ode, Odo-Otin South Local Government, Osun State,) whose high electoral productivity and value have been credibly and positively acknowledged in my ward, across the local council, state and country-wide for the enhancement of the fortune of the PDP, I have the honour (though with pain) in announcing the renunciation of my membership of the party on principle, having observed that the ideals of we, founding members, had been sorely contaminated.

“In taking this step which is not even without due consultation with my teaming loyalists in the PDP, I have consequently decided to shift my allegiance to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where I believe my experience, efforts and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.”

Oyedokun’s defection to the APC is coming at the time the aspirant he supported during the 2022 Osun governorship primary of PDP, Mr Dotun Babayemi is also moving to the national ruling party.

Osun APC said on Wednesday that Babayemi and his supporters would be dumping PDP and joining the party at a rally scheduled to be held in Osogbo on Friday.
PUNCH

Politics

Poll: APC Has No Sellable Candidate, Nothing To Campaign On – Edo Govt

Published

6 days ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

The Edo State Government claimed on Monday that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has no credible candidate for the September 21 governorship election.

This was an assertion made by the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, at a press conference in Benin City.

Nehikhare also alleged that the party is using lies and propaganda as its campaign strategy.

According to him: “The only APC strategy for the governorship election is to resort to lies and propaganda. When a party takes lies and propaganda as an election strategy, it means it has nothing to offer the people. The party lacks people with character, capacity, and intellect.”

The commissioner who took journalists through a screened shot WhatsApp chat said: “What we have here is the official APC WhatsApp platform, their own people screenshot their discussion. One of them who has a conscience asks, is this the only thing we have?”

Nehikhare, who said APC is ashamed to campaign for its candidate, noted that, as of today, nobody had heard of what the party has for the state.

“All we heard is how they are going to help their paymaster, lies and propaganda that will not help the state,” he added.

He opined that lies and propaganda are not strategies the opposition party, like APC, can use to win the September 21 governorship election.

The commissioner, who warned against misinformation and fake news ahead of the governorship election, urged media practitioners to be neutral in matters concerning lies and propaganda.

He, however, noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration has a lot of achievements to market and sell its candidate for the election.