- Says He’s Set To Recover Stolen Senate Mandate
By John Oghojafor
The massive turnout of party faithfuls at the PDP mega rally which took place in Sapele stadium on Friday June 23, 2017 has been described as a demonstration of the strength and might of the party and its general acceptability as the party on ground in Delta State. This was the submission of a chieftain of the party, Chief Ighoyota Amori while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after the occasion.
It would be recalled that since the 2015 election which was won by the Peoples Democratic Party, there has not been a gathering of the party members of such magnitude in Delta Central Senatorial District (that is the Urhobo Senatorial district) before now.
Reacting to the massive attendance and its import shortly after the rally which defied heavy downpour of rain, Chief Ighoyota Amori stated that the occasion was to demonstrate the political might of the party and its state-wide acceptability which clearly showed that it is the only party on ground in the state.
Said he: “Frankly speaking it was a show of strength. The turn-out showed an acceptance of PDP in Delta State. It shows that PDP is still firmly in control of the state and more people have come to realize that PDP is the only party in the state, hence they have trooped from other opposition parties to join the ruling and winning party.
“If the governor was not performing, the quantum of people from other opposition parties that have come to declare for the PDP today would not have been there. It shows that PDP remains the only party and the governor is performing within the limit of resources available and also to send a message that come 2019, PDP remains the only party in the state that is properly equipped in all departments of politics to govern the state.
“It was a huge success story. This has beaten even the governorship and presidential election rallies of 2015 even though this was not a state-wide rally. And this is not the totality of PDP in the state, but that of Delta Central only. So, if Delta Central can attract this huge crowd, the youths, the women and men were all there what would 2019 look like? It was not a hired crowd, and of course, we have no reason to hire crowd. Those who left PDP for us have all come back, those who were in opposition have all come back. So, it has already weakened the opposition in the state and the structures of the opposition are already being collapsed.”
Chief Amori also declared that the rally actually signaled the kick-off of the 2019 election, adding that the end of every election is the beginning of another. He recalled with nostalgia his election as Senator in 2015 which he lost at the Court of Appeal due to ‘judicial fraud’, according to him.
“A good politician should start two years before his election. And remember, the end of one election is the beginning of another. It is two years to go but you know it is less than a year for primaries. So, take it that election is next year because without primary there can be no election. So, it is not too early to start.
“You know, I’m contesting and am going back to the Senate. For me it is a foregone conclusion. It is a done deal. I’m not stopping anybody from contesting with me. Of course, you remember that so many people contested with me. I ran primary with so many people and I ran the election with so many people too. They are free to come and contest. But for me, I’m contesting.
“That judicial fraud which I suffered in 2015 will not be repeated again. Once beaten twice shy. We are wiser now, we know all that happened. Of course, you know PDP won the senatorial election. We won it in almost all the local governments. Apart from Ughelli North and even Ughelli North we had the two-third. So, we did not lose in any local government area. But there was a judicial fraud, there was a judicial somersault. This was a case that we won at the election tribunal and even won at the Court of Appeal.
“Of course you know, two different parties took me to court, both APC and the Labour parties took me to court they both lost at the Tribunal. APC lost at the Court of Appeal and for the same reason there was a judicial somersault, there was a judicial fraud which we all now know. We now know what happened. Those who feel that they can continue with judicial fraud, we are waiting.”
