The intrigues being generated by the insistence of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to singlehandedly produce his successor is generating heat for Delta state. One cannot dispel his role in the emergence of his successor but for him to block every other individual and insist on his way amounts to walking on a tight rope which may crash and end very ingloriously.
The state has a population of over four million people and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the leading party in the state. The party has leaders and members, a good number who played critical roles in his emergence in 2015 and 2019. But for Okowa to brush every one of them aside and push for his preferred governorship candidate or none is a bad omen both for him and the political party that brought him to power.
He had initially told party members and the generality of Deltans that he would give a level playing field for all the aspirants to test their popularity in the field. This is because none of the aspirants agreed to step down for each other, despite the job done by the DC-23, a lobby group set up by the Delta central to prune the aspirants to a manageable size.
Also, zoning which has been the practice over the years failed since the Ijaws refused to yield to pleas to step down and wait for 2031 to produce governor. With the breakdown of the zoning arrangement and his pledge of a level playing field for all, it is expected that he stays at the back seat and watch the players and the gladiators run the race with keen interest.
But rather than watching and allowing the people produce the governor of their choice, Okowa is bent on imposing a marionette governor on the people of Delta state. Okowa cannot claim to be all-knowing, believing that because he is governor he knows what all Deltans need, hence his decision was for all Deltans. By his stance on having his way, undermining whose ox is gored, Okowa is making a grave mistake and it might end up being a big political miscalculation. The result could be more catastrophic, politically destabilizing than he ever imagined.
His choice of candidate is generating great unease and tension in the state. Both the PDP top hierarchy and the generality of Deltans who are conversant with the politics of the state are out against his choice. Issues are brewing up following his alleged plans to impose his candidate on the party, thereby attempting to push others out of the way. Sheriff Oborevwori, speaker of the state house of assembly has been judged by many as not being fit to run the affairs of state as governor. Many have evaluated Oborevwori and concluded that he is not a governorship material to manage a state as complex as the oil-rich Delta.
They have given several reasons as to why Oborevowri is not the man for the great job. But Okowa is pressing on with all his arsenal to have his way. This, definitely, may lead to the final fall of the party in the state. The PDP has ruled the state, holding it to the jugular since 1999 and many have concluded that PDP is Delta and Delta is PDP. This has made many to believe that as soon as one wins the PDP ticket, it is expressway to the state government house, and it has been so over the years.
There were intrigues as this in the build up to the 2015 governorship election when former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan who has been relegated to the background attempted to impose late Tony Obuh, a permanent secretary then on the state. When the plan failed, he switched over to David Edevbie from Urhobo, who contested but came second on the score sheet. Today, Uduaghan’s relevance has waned and gone into oblivion.
Okowa’s insistence on his candidate or none has pitched many PDP faithful, other guber aspirants and the ordinary Deltans against him. These people have spared no efforts pouring venom against him. If Okowa continues in this move and his candidate eventually emerges, he may end up crashing with a mighty thud from the pinnacle of political opulence.
Yesterday, the social media was awash with allegations on the discrepancies in the certificate of his preferred candidate. Although the allegations are yet to be proved or discountenanced by Oborevwori, emerging reports are indicative that Okowa is still bent on using instrument of state and lobbying his fellow governor who is chairman of the screening committee, Douyi Diri, governor of Bayelsa state, to perpetuate his candidate and keep him on the list. He may have his way but the courts are there to give verdict when the time is due.
Reports available on the social media are revealing that the Bayelsa governor who is a beneficiary of such incident in his state is reportedly working to push his fellow governor’s candidate to scale through the process. This, if eventually successful, may lead to the death and burial of the PDP in the state. The APC whose candidate is Ovie Omo-Agege, is waxing strong and is looking for loop holes to push the party out of the state. This may be the easiest avenue.
Omo-Agege has empowered a lot of Deltans who are working with him from all over the state to win the governorship. The fear of Omo-Agege, without mincing words, has gripped every government official especially the information managers who have been running helter-skelter since he declared to rubbish his declaration speech.
If Okowa fails to allow the people of Delta have their way in the choice of governorship candidate, the political rope may be too tiny for him to climb and two things are bound to happen. It is either his candidate loses shamefully at the party primaries or the state is taken over by the opposition APC. At least, it will be a good opportunity for Deltans to test another party through Omo-Agege who has performed creditably well at the national assembly.
AUSTIN OYIBODE, ASABA
