Facts available to Emerald News are indicative that the emergence of the 25 local government chairmanship candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in Delta, was through a strong political tussle among power brokers in the state.
Among the power brokers who reportedly slugged it out to handpick the local government chairmanship candidates, according to sources privy to the development, are incumbent governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, former deputy governor, Kingsley Otuaro, incumbent deputy governor, Monday Onyeme, former militant warlord, Government Ekpemukpolo, aka Tompolo, Speaker of Delta State house of assembly, Dennis Emomotimi Guwor, Senator Ned Nwoko and others.
Impeccable sources familiar with the development told this medium that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori allegedly directed that only 25 party nomination forms should be printed and that party leaders in the each local government and senatorial districts should consult and produce a consensus candidate for the chairmanship position.
Following this development, sources say former Governor Okowa allegedly outsmarted Ned Nwoko, PDP senator representing Delta North, and the deputy governor, Monday Onyeme, to champion the choice of the chairmanship candidates for the nine local government areas in Delta North. It was gathered that Okowa is reportedly plotting to return to the senate in the 2027 political race, thus scheming to dislodge Senator Nwoko from the senate.
While the battle to dislodge Senator Nwoko, a billionaire of repute may seem a herculean task, Okowa’s move to reportedly pick the local government chairmanship candidates, to the extent of even outrunning the sitting deputy governor, Monday Onyeme, is believed to be his first move to put his loyalists into executive offices to pave way for his emergence in the 2027 senatorial warfare.
Prior to the expiration of his tenure as governor of Delta state, Okowa was reported to have eyed the senate, but with the turn of event when he finally emerged as vice presidential candidate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the build up to the 2023 presidential election, he reportedly ceded the office to Senator Ned Nwoko who had been on the senatorial ballot for years.
Now that he has lost on all fronts, he is getting set to launch his way back to the senate where he served an unexciting and insipid one term before returning to contest for the governorship in 2015. Okowa’s quest for the senate in 2027 may be Senator Nwoko’s undoing as Okowa will not leave any stone unturned to clinch the party’s senatorial ticket.
For Delta central, sources close to government house confided in Emerald News that it was solely the decision of the governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, in the nomination and emergence of the local government chairmanship candidates in the senatorial district. This is because he is the only senior political office holder since the senator representing the district is of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Further investigations revealed that some persons close to his chest were used to pick candidates in the local councils.
For Delta South, our sources revealed that the power to select local government chairmanship candidates was vested in the Speaker being the most senior political office holder at the moment in the zone. However, it was learnt that the Speaker being a loyal party man to former deputy governor, Kingsley Otuaro and former warlord, Tompolo, he had no option than to give way to the two men to select the candidates from Delta south.
Our sources informed our newsroom that despite the powers wielded by these powerful men in Delta south, Warri South and Burutu local government areas still locked up in running battle over the selection of candidates. It was learnt that the Urhobos of Warri South are lobbying the governor to use his influence to appoint an Urhobo man to be the chairman of the council. This is even as former council chairman, Tidi, is reportedly plotting his candidate to take over the office.
Former PDP senatorial candidate, Michael Diden aka Ejele, is also said to be plotting to anoint a candidate for Warri North. This is even as the governor is said to have insisted that only 25 nomination forms should be printed for chairmanship candidates, while each ward should send three names where one will be picked councillorship in each ward.
In the midst of this scrambling among PDP political gladiators, Emerald News learnt that many aggrieved aspirants are unwilling to succumb to decisions of party leaders but bent on running for the local government elections despite the selection process being made by the political leaders across the state.
