By Gbenga Abulude (Politics and General Desk) with report 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 for the Delta state governorship election on the platform of the PDP to remain on their lane and desist from weighing in on Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi as a subject matter, and his alleged involvement in the assault of some staff of his hotel in Effurun, near Warri, Delta state.
The Coalition which gave this warning in a statement signed by Prince Henry J.E. Eze, Secretary and Comrade Emeka U. Bidokwu, Publicity Secretary, advised that, rather than wasting their 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 Gbagi, a PDP governorship aspirant , Warri-based controversial Billion-naira businessman, lawyer cum criminologist and a former Minister of State for Education had signaled his interest for the PDP governorship ticket ahead the 2023 gubernatorial contest. With a crowded PDP governorship field, the billion-naira businessman’s interest is alleged to have caused some internal strife, political wrangling which soon threatened to blow open into bitter a row among PDP gladiators.
Apart from Gbagi, others within the PDP field said to be eyeing Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s seat in 2023 include: Olorogun David Edevwie, Okowa’s Chief of Staff; Senator James Manager, a very ranking Senator who is paternally Ijaw and maternally Isoko; Mr Peter Mrakpor, Governor Okowa’s Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General , Chief James Augoye, Governor Okowa’s Commissioner for Works, ace Speaker Sheriff Oborevwori, current two-term Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Delta state deputy Governor, Kingsley Otuaro, Olorogun Fred Majemite, a former Commissioner for Special Duties, among others.
With highly placed sources revealing that given the fierceness of the governorship race, and with allegations and counter altercations flying that some who came into Delta state in 2015, and got appointed by Governor Okowa into his government as aides may not be sufficiently well-known and trusted enough to remain faithful to the original political ideals of the PDP since the era of Chief James Ibori, there has been all sorts of anxieties. Worse still, those who hold this view accuse Olorogun Gbagi of being an outsider to the PDP family, leadership and establishment in Delta state, fueling apprehensions about likely eligibility issues across both divide in the raging political uproar.
Some sources told The New Diplomat in Warri that there is always a character, trust, and eligibility test which the political leadership of the PDP fear that these set of 2015 new arrivals and contenders like Gbagi might have to contend with. Said a PDP politician: “I must tell you that nobody wants to be retired politically. That is why since 1999, old politicians have stayed on. There is the general feeling that a whole generation of politicians since Governor James Ibori’s era down to date could be retired if an outsider that has not been part of the PDP family since Ibori era emerges as front-runners…You don’t know someone until you give him or her power.!”
The PDP chieftain added: ” You can’t put power of Governor in the hands of people you haven’t known very well over a long period of time. Take Osun State for example. Gov Oyetola was Gov Aregbesola’s Chief of staff and they were very close for eight years. But today, see how the new Governor has demolished all Aregbesola’s legacies notwithstanding that Aregbesola is a serving Minister in the federal government… Are they still close? The answer is no. Check Kano State, where Ganduje was patient for eight years as deputy to Kwankwanso and when the later gave him power as governor, see what happened! Ganduje forced his former boss and mentor to leave the party in Kano state. So the key PDP leadership in the state since when democracy was restored in 1999 might look in the direction of people who have been in their inner circles since Chief James Ibori’s time…”
But Olorogun Gbagi disagrees with those who hold this view, saying he is very quite old in the PDP system in Delta state. According to Gbagi, he is one of the founding fathers of the PDP in Delta state since 1999, stressing that he is well known to all political gladiators of that era till date, and should not be seen as a new face in teh state’s politics. He says he was among the three persons that brought the PDP and had it fortified in Delta state as a political party.
However, whether he agrees or disagrees, the political dynamics took a new dimension two weeks ago when 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, near Warri, in 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 governorship aspirant, saying he has no knowledge of the video recording nor any alleged inhuman treatment meted to those shown in the video.
Gbagi went ahead to accuse the incumbent Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the State, Mr. Peter Mrakpor, who like Gbagi hails from Ughelli South, and rumoured to be indicating interest the governorship cointest , and a Warri-based legal practitioner, one Mr. Kunle Edu of allegedly masterminding the video to tarnish his image.
The Inspector General of Police reportedly ordered the arrest of Gbagi claiming he failed to honour police invitation. However, Gbagi approached a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja which has since granted an order restraining the IGP, Commissioner of Police, Delta State and their agents from arresting and detaining the Warri-based industrialist pending the determination of the application filed by his lawyers which has been fixed for hearing on October 16, 2020.
However, the Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, in Delta State, in a statement while weighing in on the political situation in Delta state, stoutly defended the governorship aspirant on the platform of the PDP, cautioning those whom, it believed, “were out to tarnish his image and rubbish his governorship ambition” to desist from their machinations otherwise the entire PDP political house may be affected in the unfolding game of intrigues and bickering.
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 asked fellow PDP governorship aspirants to sell themselves to the electorate and desist from acts capable of throwing the entire political party into irretrievable crisis and endless discords.
The coalition added: “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 group said.
According to the group, some persons may well be quite jittery in the PDP and “have started employing every devious means to stop him from contesting for the governorship seat.”
The Coalition avers that Gbagi’s state-wide consultations in PDP might have jolted some elements in the party who fear that his speed and tenacity would be too tough to contain during the PDP primaries in 2023. According to the group, 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.”
The Coalition reiterated again and again: “If truth be told…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 Coalition also believes “all the money Gbagi has made have been 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.
