*Submits names of Oborevwori, Agas, Manager to PDP National chair for Consideration whilst he Claims to support free, fair primary for all aspirants
* David Edevbie Missing on Submitted List As Things Fall Apart!
Barely 24 hours after Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege declared, in a grand style amidst a surging mammoth crowd, his intention to vie for the Delta State governorship seat in 2023 in Effurun on Thursday, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa reportedly convened an emergency Stakeholders meeting of select members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday.
Although the purpose of the stakeholders’ meeting remains sketchy as well as the outcome at the time of this report, a very close source told The New Diplomat that the governor convened the meeting at his country home in Owa Alero in Ika in a rather timorous move to resolve the seeming intractable problem of preferred governorship aspirant of the PDP following a reported long-standing disagreement between him and towering figures who hold the ace in the top echelon of the PDP in the state.
Very competent sources confided in The New Diplomat that the undeniable difference between the incumbent governor and a former governor of the state who is highly liked my majority of the PDP faithful in Delta State has attracted the attention of the National leadership of the PDP, a development which has reportedly triggered massive concerns among top PDP stakeholders in the countdown to the decisive 2023 governorship polls. A PDP governorship aspirant who spoke with The New Diplomat on condition of anonymity disclosed that the entry of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege into the governorship race in Delta state has thrown up fears within the PDP with the consequence that a distraught and divided Delta PDP leadership was hurriedly prevailed upon to convene an emergency meeting on Friday.
The meeting was said to have been short-lived as it was later called off because of what insiders say poor attendance and short notice. Said an insider: “ Shortly after the declaration by DSP Omo-Agege, some people rushed to the governor to call a meeting to respond to some of the issues the deputy President of the Senate raised at his expression of interest to contest the governorship seat. But unfortunately, it was not a full house and those who rushed forward are not the ones recognized. So many leaders, a case is those from Isoko, for instance refused to attend. So also were many others. So the meeting was called off for a later date…”
This development is coming on the heels of reports that the PDP leadership in Delta state under the leadership of Governor Okowa has reportedly submitted three names of preferred governorship aspirants to the leadership of the PDP in Abuja. A source close to the PDP headquarters in Abuja revealed that those reportedly on the list of preferred aspirants are the incumbent Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, a former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon Festus Agas and the current Senator, representing Delta South, Senator James Manager. A source in Abuja further told The New Diplomat that “ Speaker Sheriff Oborevwori is being used at the moment as smokescreen… to pave the way for another aspirant in the PDP that is likely to pick the ticket.”
According to the source, the idea within the thinking of the party apparathick for now is to at least fulfill the pretentious acceptance of the rotation understanding to Delta Central. Whilst the governor is yet to confirm the above speculations, an independent source told The New Diplomat that he may have secretly forwarded the list of three aspirants to the National leadership for consideration. Said an insider in PDP hierarchy: “ The idea is to encourage so many Urhobo sons and daughters to come out in PDP and all of them will face the primary. At the Primary in PDP, because they are many, they will split delegates votes, to pave way for another aspirant form another senatorial zone…”
Governor Okowa, in spite of this speculation, is believed to be insisting on throwing the PDP governorship primary scheduled for May 26 open for all those who have bought the governorship Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to try their luck. As at the last count, The New Diplomat learnt that more than 10 aspirants have bought the PDP governorship Expression of Interest and Nomination forms.
Early last week, a report trended in the media that Governor Okowa has zeroed on the Speaker as his preferred choice of aspirant, a situation which pitched him against a former governor of Delta state’s choice of Chief Edevbie. But very close sources have continued to maintain that the Oborevwori project is just a smokescreen, adding that the governor’s heart is irreversibly buoyed on a serving Senator.
While a troubled Gov. Okowa continues to weigh the political dynamics of Thursday’s tsunami-like declaration for governorship by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege at the FUPRE playground in Effurun, Delta State, many PDP faithful and stakeholders are in tizzy and fretful mood as they reason that the APC is set to take over Delta state after 23 years “worsened by an incumbent PDP administration that has received billions of naira yet Deltans sit on the floor in dilapidated classrooms, poor schools, escalating poverty and hunger…”
The Omo-Agege declaration on Thursday which drew unprecedented mammoth crowd at FUBRE and metaphorically shut down the state reportedly jolted the governor to his marrow to the extent which some have described as an ignited fire in the PDP’s raffia palm-made ship. The convening of friday’s emergency meeting by the governor is therefore not difficult to understand bearing in mind that what looks like an implosion is about to consume the PDP’s camp.
The crowd that attended the DSP and Senator, representing Delta Central’s Senatorial zone, Omo-Agege’s declaration for the governorship race Thursday was quite intimidating and frightening. However, what is more fearful could be the vehement with which the APC stakeholders from across the country expressed their desire to take over the State in 2023.
Some gave a final departure warning for the PDP to ‘pack and leave the State’, while others declared that come 2023, ‘the animal that owns the forest’ shall be known. Sources reveal within PDP that these candid words are enough to create panic in Governor Okowa’s mind. When one of his teenage media assistants attempted to respond to the earthmoving speech of Senator Omo-Agege at the event, a source told this medium that the fear-stricken governor could not contain the worries, especially against the backdrop of the confusion threatening the survival of the PDP’s stronghold.
One of the PDP governorship aspirants who was screened out by the DC-23 contraption but yet went ahead to buy the Expression of Interest and Nomination form spoke to The New Diplomat on condition of anonymity. In a fit of rage, he condemned the manner Governor Okowa is handling the issue of his successorship, adding that the situation may look worse than what transpired in 2015.
“The governor expressed interest in the DC-23 and even went ahead to advise that the number of aspirants be pruned down to a manageable level. But the story today, showed that Governor Okowa is playing games with Urhobo turn for the governorship. The result of his game may be a disaster to the PDP if he does not manage the situation well. There could be an implosion in the party”, he said.
Meanwhile, analysts believe that the former governor, Chief James Ibori is not prepared to yield any ground to the incumbent governor’s preferred gubernatorial aspirants. Analysts thus threw up a poser: After all, who is Okowa today if not for Ibori in 2015 who insisted that Okowa should be allowed on grounds of equity?
