From Victor Onovwakpor(The New Diplomat’s Niger Delta Correspondent)
The Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, Delta State chapter, at the weekend cautioned all aspirants to the next governorship election on the platform of the PDP to remain on their lane and desist from detracting Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi from his aspiration of contesting the 2023 governorship elections on the ticket of PDP.
The Coalition which gave this warning in a press release signed by Prince Henry J.E. Eze, Secretary and Comrade Emeka U. Bidokwu, Publicity Secretary, advised that, rather than wasting their precious time in trying to heat up the polity by pulling down other fellow contestants through campaign of calumny and character assassination, they should sell their attributes to the Delta State electorate.
It would be recalled that Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, a foremost Delta State industrialist, a lawyer, a criminologist and former Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the first person in Delta Central Senatorial District to indicate interest in expressing aspiration to the governorship of the state, come 2023.
Barely two weeks ago, a video surfaced in the social media of three girls and one boy who were purportedly stripped naked at Signatious Hotel owned by Olorogun Gbagi in Effurun, Delta State. The report accompanying the video accused the governorship aspirant of stripping the four persons naked over an alleged theft of the hotel’s money.
The video and the report which went viral in the social media, has been denied by the Delta-born PDP stalwart and governorship aspirant, saying he has no knowledge of the video recording nor any alleged inhuman treatment meted to those shown in the video.
Olorogun Gbagi had accused the incumbent Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the State, Mr. Peter Mrakpor, a purported governorship aspirant and a Warri-based legal practitioner, one Mr. Kunle Edu of allegedly masterminding the video.
The Inspector General of Police was reported to have ordered the arrest of Gbagi alleging that he failed to honour multiple police invitations. However, Gbagi said he approached a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja which granted him an order restraining the IGP, Commissioner of Police, Delta State and their agents from arresting and detaining him pending the determination of the application filed by his lawyers. The case has been fixed for hearing on October 16, 2020.
However, the Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, in Delta State, in a statement rose stoutly in defence of the frontline PDP governorship aspirant, cautioning those whom, “it believed, were out to tarnish his image and rubbish his governorship ambition.”
The statement read: “The COALITION OF UNITED POLITICAL PARTIES IN DELTA STATE believes that since Kenneth Gbagi indicated his interest for the governorship, nobody has come out to question his qualification to run. Besides, he is from Delta Central, a senatorial district that is favoured to produce the governorship, judging from the rotational plan that has been in place since 1999.
“It is against this backdrop that we are worried about the spate of social media campaign of calumny against Kenneth Gbagi by those who are seemingly frightened by his towering political profile or those who feel that Gbagi’s ambition will hurt theirs.
“The Coalition of United Political Parties in Delta State has been quite critical of the video clips making the rounds in the social media which featured some half nude girls and which have been linked to Kenneth Gbagi’s SIGNATIOUS HOTEL.
“We have no doubt that these video clips were doctored to suit a particular purpose and as persons familiar with social media antics, it would be very unhealthy for us to rely on them as prima evidence against Kenneth Gbagi.”
The Coalition said it believes in the sincerity and person of Gbagi, saying that “a man of his status who has carved a niche in business…will unlikely be involved in such trivial issues, adding that those who believe such contrivances were only trying to belittle the reputation of the governorship aspirant.”
The CUPP further said: “As a man who presides over a business conglomerate and officially-recognized as the biggest investor in Delta State, it is very unlikely that he would have the time to attend to a purely mundane and trivial issues such as hotel remittances in his Signatious Hotel in Effurun. Those who believe such contrivances are only trying to belittle a business colossus like Gbagi.
“At this stage of our political trajectory, we should be wise enough to decipher between truth and falsehood, especially as it affects some of our very society’s best. In Delta State, there is hardly any highly placed political or social figure who has, at one time or the other, not become a victim of social media harassment. It has now become a thriving trade in Delta State and some persons feed fat trying to defame the high and mighty that have made a success of their business or political endeavours.”
The Coalition further claimed that Gbagi’s profile and political acceptability in PDP, may have unsettled some interest group within the party, adding that “this may well explain why some persons are jittery and have started employing every devious means to stop him from contesting for the governorship seat.”
“This may well explain why some persons are jittery and have started employing every devious means to stop him from contesting for the plum job,” the CUPP added.
The Coalition also averred that Gbagi has no known record of public theft or corruption in government, adding that “from 1999 till date he has never been an employee of the Delta State government.” According to the group, Gbagi’s resources are through “personal dint of hard work, noting that he has carved a niche for himself in the business world”.
The CUPP therefore cautioned all aspirants for the 2023 governorship election to remain on their lane, adding that “the idea of using the pictures of nude girls to implicate a highly placed person like Kenneth Gbagi is very pedestrian, crude and should be condemned in a civilized society such as ours.”
“In summation, we appeal to those whose shenanigans remain to destroy others to desist from such unholy practice as it would surely boomerang against them when the real contest begins”, the group concluded.
