The people of Delta State in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country are noted for their high level of political awareness. The next general elections in the country may be two years away but politicking is already generating heat in the state. Various aspirants, supporters and would-be godfathers are losing sleep over who becomes the next governor of the state. The game is becoming cloudy and intense as more than 10 gubernatorial aspirants have directly or indirectly indicated interest to succeed Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in 2015. As a result, it is becoming impossible for some, like the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, and the speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, to sleep with two eyes closed owing to the warning given by Chief Edwin Clark to the duo. Clark, an elder statesmen and one of the leaders of the Ijaw nation, has advised them to forget their 2015 gubernatorial ambition for the sake of peace in the state. The elder statesman particularly faulted Orubebe for declaring for the governorship of Delta State contrary to directives by President Goodluck Jonathan to members of his cabinet to stay off politics and focus on governance. “I wish to advise Orubebe and Ochei to give peace a chance and not to use their positions to intimidate and cause confusion among the people,” he said. Others that are nursing the ambition or have indicated interest to occupy the government house in Asaba in 2015 include: Senator Pius Ehwerido representing Delta Central senatorial district; former senior special assistant to President Jonathan on presidential matters, Chief Clement Ofuani; Senator Ifeanyi Okowa representing Delta North senatorial district; a business mogul, Tony Elumelu; Ngozi Olojeme; Sylvester Monye; Sam Obi and Godswill Obielumo, Barrister Festus Kayemo, amongst others. Apart from the advice of Clark, there are other factors that may count against Ochei. It has been alleged that, he was the contractor who got a mega contract worth N27 billion for an independent power project, IPP at Oghara, Oghareki. He allegedly collected N18 billion from the Delta State government, but nothing has happened on the site. Similarly, counting against Orubebe’s gubernatorial ambition is the belief that he sponsoring two court cases against the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in his local government area, Burutu Local Government Council, and the Delta State executive in various courts within Delta State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It is said that the court cases are aimed at ensuring he controls the party at the local level. Following the warning issued by Clark, some aspirants have accused him of meddling in the affairs of the state, and have thus advised him to steer clear. A former special adviser on media and publicity to Elder Orubebe, Mr. Ekenwan Ekwagbe, said that Clark has no power to stop Orubebe from realising his governorship ambition in 2015 as according to him, Clark “is not God and should stop playing God.” He said the remark on Orubebe by Clark was unbecoming of an elder statesman. It would be recalled that the differences between the two men started on May 19, 2012, when Chief Clark in a letter captioned: “Re: Delta State Congress and the state executive,” addressed to Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman, PDP Delta State, where he listed 29 names, positions and senatorial zones of his alleged loyalists he wanted appointed as members of the state’s executive. Also, in the letter copied Orubebe and vice chairman South-South zone, Dr. Richard Oru, Clark claimed the list from him (Dr Oru) has the correct membership of the Delta State executive of the party, saying the list replaced the earlier one (sent by Clark). Clark in, his reaction, had warned Oru to avoid another crisis in the party, reminding him that a copy of the letter had been addressed to Peter Nwaoboshi and the PDP national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur for their attention and information. “I wish to refer to the recent discussions we had at my residence when you returned from the overseas tour in respect of the above subject matter. I have also had discussions with Orubebe and Dr. Cairo Ojoughoh who represented me at the congress. And we have accordingly agreed on some very important amendments to reflect our interest in the harmonisation exercise of the two lists, and the agreed list of the state executive is hereby reflected below. It just emphasised that no changes or amendments were made to the governor’s list”, Clark’s letter read. However, Chief Clark and Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN) Delta State deputy governor, in their respective involvement, emphasised that no changes or amendment were made to the governor’s list and the leaders and elder of the party were told by the governor to meet with Chief Clark’s group. But the authentic state party executive that were elected at the 2012 state congress held March 17, 2012 demanded the national chairman to direct Peter Nwaoboshi to allow them free hand to do their work without interference from Clark, advising the elder statesman to allow peace and harmony in the party “without arrogating the exclusive power of the congress to himself.” This inconsistency in the list of members infuriated other party officials and they lamented that the authentic list of 29 names of winners, their positions endorsed by Dr. Anne Ugbo, chairman and returning officer and Ibrahim Bamalli, electoral officer, during the election, must be adhered to. Clark was abroad for medical trip when the congress was conducted. Newsworld gathered that since then, Clark and Orubebe have been at each other’s throat. The disagreement between Clark and Orubebe has factionalised the party in the state. Each of the factions has been claiming upper hand over the other. While the faction loyal to Orubebe sees Clark as an impostor, who pretends to be a crusader but behind does things that are undemocratic, that of Ochei described him as “an elder putting shapeless pegs in a round hole.” Ekenwan Ekwagbe, former special adviser on media and publicity to Orubebe expressed dismay over allegations that Clark had caused a lot of embarrassment to President Jonathan, through his utterances, by attacking highly placed Nigerians, just as he further challenged Clark that if his son, Ebikime, could not win election in Burutu Local Council, he has no moral right to determine who becomes governor of Delta State. But Clarke’s role in the politics of the state has not diminished as various groups continue to seek his blessing to enable them actualise their 2015 ambition. Succinctly, a group from Delta North, under the aegis of Anioma Agenda, had visited Clark to seek his support for the 2015 Governorship election. Clark reportedly told them to seek and fight for their right to produce the next governor of the state since the other two senatorial districts had produced governors for two consecutive terms of eight year each. As it is, there are other factors, apart from those cited above, that would be consequential in determining who becomes the next governor of the oil rich state, but one thing that is certain is that the presidency is not uninterested in the state, neither is the governor, who wants someone who will ensure continuity of his programmes. So, even though the Anioma voices have been the loudest telling those who care to listen that it is their turn to produce the occupant of the government house, the realities on ground have shown that a lot of consultations with the other zones, which are more formidable politically, have to take place for them to shift ground. Expectedly, the political tussle has also turned to Chief Great Ogboru, chieftain and mover of Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, in Delta State since 2003 as well as Senator Pius Ewherido, who represents Delta Central senatorial district in the National Assembly, over who becomes the party‘s governorship candidate come 2015. Chief Ogboru had challenged former Governor James Ibori at the 2003 polls and had equally challenged the present governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan at the 2007 gubernatorial elections but did not succeed in his bid to rule the state. He is still pushing forward in his ambition to rule the state by contesting the results of 2011 governorship elections in Delta State. Newsworld gathered that Senator Ewherido had ridden on the popularity of Great Ogboru, who hails from the same central senatorial district to defeat the PDP candidate in 2011 senatorial election; but the duo’s relationship went sour when Ewherido allegedly started nursing gubernatorial ambition while Ogboru is still oiling his political machine for the 2015 governorship election. But the climax of the sour relationship of the duo was when the party (DPP) in the state announced the suspension of Senator Ewherido and others for being part of the merger talks, and for not yielding to the warnings of the party on the issue. The chairman of the DPP in Delta State, Chief Tony Ezeagwu, who pronounced the suspension, explained that they suspended the members “because of gross misconduct and engaging in anti-party activities.” According to him, “We inaugurated a 12-man committee to midwife our joining the APC and we officially applied, but the application was not approved. But Ewherido and Akamukale went ahead and have been attending APC meetings when we have not been admitted into that fold and as it stands now, we have officially pulled out of APC because majority of our members including those at the state House of Assembly said they cannot be members of an unregistered political party,” the DPP chairman stressed. On the whole, the race for the Delta State seat of power is becoming hotter by the day and only time will tell who succeeds Governor Uduaghan at the 2015 polls...As for youth ,the time has come for u to choose ur Representative C.M.C change must come ...only the man that can make changes is the person we can die for,we need changes cos changes is constant in man!s life ...
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 02:07:29 +0000
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