A lot has taken place between April 2015 when the last election into the Delta State House of Assembly took place and now. One of the legislative seats contested in that election was the Warri South Constituency I in which the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC, initially declared Mr. Emmanuel Abigor of the Social Democratic Party, SDP as winner. However, his election was hotly contested by the late Mrs. Omawumi Udoh of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, and at the end of the day, the Court of Appeal gave judgment in favour of the latter.
It would be recalled that the late Omawumi Udoh did two tenures as member representing the constituency before the 2015 election. She won the PDP primary for a third time which enabled her to contest for the seat and, although she allegedly lost the election according to INEC, she won it back at the Court of Appeal. Emmanuel Abigor who barely showed appearances at the House of Assembly for about six months exited the House for Omawumi Udoh. Unfortunately, Udoh could not complete her third tenure before the cold hands of death snatched her away, thus creating the vacancy which, according to INEC timetable, has to be contested for and filled through a bye-election slated for April 26, 2017.
Expectedly, as many political parties as are present in the state have indicated interest in the vacant seat but The New Diplomat’s finding indicates that the real battle is likely to be between the candidate of the APC and the ruling party, the PDP. The April 26 by-election promises to be very interesting but the most intriguing aspect of it all seems to be the manner in which the factionalized PDP would resolve to produce a single candidate for the contest. For now, the ruling PDP in the state owes allegiance to the former National Caretaker Committee chairman, Mr. Ahmed Makarfi while the de jure national chairman of the party, Mr. Modu Sheriff, has inaugurated the state, local government and ward election executive in the state.
The New Diplomat’s investigation reveals that as many as eight aspirants from the two political parties are already in the race. The APC has Stanley Emiko, Jemine Omagbemi, Roland Ashangbe and Sunday Ejegi who are already jostling for the party primary from which one would emerge as the flag-bearer for the House of Assembly seat. As for the factionalized PDP, the names of Sola Daibo and Mofe Edema are allegedly being touted while one Ojere Wilfred Edeyibo, a one-time House of Assembly member is jostling for the ticket on the platform of the Modu Sheriff faction of the party.
In an interview with The New Diplomat, a chieftain of the APC from the area, Mr. Toju Omadeli Godwin, averred that the House of Assembly by-election is one with which the party will prove that it is now solidly on ground.
Said he: “As far as we are concerned, we know that by-election is number one and we are going to use it to prove a point. There has been this notion that APC is not on ground in Warri, but we are going to tell them that we are even more on ground than the ruling party, PDP. We are going to challenge them that they have never won any credible election. We are sure the by-election is going to be free and fair and we are not only going to take over that vacant seat in the House of Assembly but even that of 2019.”
The APC has scheduled its primary for Saturday April 8, 2017. Speaking during a party meeting held in Orerokpe few days back, the Makarfi faction state chairman of the PDP in the state, Mr. Kingsley Esiso urged members of the party to ignore the ‘propaganda’ being peddled by those loyal to Modu Sheriff faction in the state, adding that PDP is one in the state and that they recognize only Makarfi as their national chairman. Esiso further said that the regular meetings of the PDP across the state was to consolidate and prepare the mind for the forthcoming elections in the state among which is the Warri South Constituency I by-election.
The apprehension that the ruling party, PDP, may not find it easy to produce candidate for the Warri South Constituency I by-election and the expected Local Government election which ought to hold by November, 2017, seems to grow stronger considering the fact that for as long as Modu Sheriff remains the substantive national chairman of the party, he has a duty to endorse the party’s candidates for the various elections lined up from now on. This position was aptly emphasized by a chieftain of APC in Okpe Local Government Area, Mr. B.M. Okirikpo, while fielding questions from The New Diplomat at Orerokpe, headquarters of the Council Area recently. According to Okirikpo, who is the Secretary of the APC at the Local Government Area, for as long as Modu Sheriff remains the national chairman of the party, the submission of candidates list to INEC is his responsibility. Okirikpo argued that it will be a disaster if the Local Government election candidates of the party emerge through the instrumentality of impunity.
Said he: “We have constituted authority that will submit the candidates list to INEC. You know who the national chairman is. So, it is expedient for our leaders to work out a solution as quickly as possible.”
As it is now, the April 26 Warri South Constituency I by-election appears to be the first acid test in the state to ascertain which faction is really in charge. A similar scenario played out in the September 2016 Edo State governorship election where the two PDP factions produced two different governorship candidates. But for the ruling of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt which came few days to the election, the PDP was already in a dilemma on who was the authentic flag-bearer of the party. However, the Warri South Constituency I by-election is just around the corner, yet there are no visible signs that the two factions of the PDP in the state will sit around the table to present a single candidate for the party neither is it foreseeable for the Okowa-led PDP in state to recognize and respect the decision of the national chairman, Modu Sheriff as far as the two crucial elections are concerned.
