By Emmanuel Arodovwe
The dictionary defines an inordinate ambition as an “excessive, immoderate or uncontrolled desire for power, wealth or recognition that ignores ethical limits, fairness, or the rights of others. It is characterised by self-promotion, selfishness, and a willingness to use unethical means to achieve goals, often resulting in personal, social, or national crises. ”
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege’s insistence to return to the Nigerian Senate, barely three years after he left, is not short of an “Inordinate Ambition”, and unless he is quickly called to order, and the ambition itself nipped in the bud, it may portend crises for the ruling APC Party in the State.
Thankfully, the workaholic executive governor of Delta State, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, who is the undisputed leader of the APC Party, has demonstrated wisdom, maturity, and tact in this matter, and he is well on top of the situation.
There is no doubt that the governor’s defection from the PDP was always going to upturn the political calculus in the state and necessitate some compromises. But part of that compromise was not to sacrifice the entire structure of the APC on the senatorial ambition of Ovie Omo-Agege. It also did not include disrespect, disregard, and dismissal of the unprecedented and transformative impact of the governor, His Excellency Rt—Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori in the State.
Unfortunately, in the past three months after the State Party Congress, the body language, words, and deeds of Senator Omo Agege have been nothing short of dismissive of the party structure in the state. This was heavily manifest in his Declaration Statements for a Return to the Senate, where he deliberately and premeditatedly omitted reference to His Excellency’s glaring transformative governance of the past three years, and the goodwill and support he can draw from him in prosecuting his ill-advised third senatorial bid. Instead, he alluded to a non-existent Abuja connection and endorsements and to the President himself for legitimisation.
The essence of this write-up is to debunk certain falsehoods and narratives that Sen. Omo Agege’s attack dogs and media men have either manufactured themselves or programmed to serve the public with, in a bid, to pave the way for their principal’s inordinate ambition. I now highlight some of these misgivings and erroneous propaganda:
The first is the claim that Senator Ede Dafinone is a prodigy of Senator Omo Agege’s political camp whom he groomed, up to his election to the National Assembly, and that Omo Agege stepped down for Dafinone to become Senator. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ede Dafinone has been around for a long time, longer than most people are aware of. As far back as 2006, he contested for the Senate against the likes of the late Prof. Eferakeya for the PDP primaries. In 2011, Senator Dafinone also contested the DPP senatorial primary with late Senator Pius Ehwerido. He technically won that primary but respected party decisions to field Ewherido. He would later emerge as the candidate of the DPP for the Senate in 2013 following the painful demise of Ewherido. Contrast this with Ovie Omo-Agege, who in 2006 had just been elevated from his role as EA to the Governor, to Commissioner for Special Duties. Omo Agege would then engage in a failed gubernatorial race in 2007 against the superior counsel of his boss, Chief James Ibori, just as he did again in 2011 and 2015. Thus, when Dafinone first aspired to the Senate in 2006, Omo-Agege had neither the political weight nor capacity to as much as the dream of being a Senator for Delta Central.
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege’s characteristic inordinate political ambitions have always left him exaggerating his own popularity and chances over and above those of others. In the 2023 elections, he left the Senate, where he had the chance to return as Senate President, to engage in contests with Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori, which he lost. Since politics, just as nature abhors a vacuum, Dafinone filled the gap and has done so exceptionally well, having just been appointed as the Chairman of the Committee on Federal CharacterInter-Governmental Affairs. Unfortunately for Omo-Agege, the performance of the incumbent governor in his first term has humbled him and also foreclosed any further ambition to unseat him. Now faced with this discomforting stark reality, he then weaves a narrative that he gave up the Senate position to Dafinone to hold brief for him, which he would return to in the event of his failure to become Governor. Such stories can only be told to the gods.
A second falsehood is that there is a certain operational Western/Eastern Urhobo Division political formula that Gov. Oborevwori and Sen. Dafinone have upturned by virtue of their present offices; and which needs to be corrected; and which can only be corrected by no other person than Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege himself, and only by returning him to the Senate! One wonders why he didn’t choose to correct the supposed imbalance by instead unseating the governor. This narrative goes further to hold that Dafinone and Oborevwori in their present positions are implementing a secret Okpe agenda to enslave, emasculate, and undermine the larger Urhobo people. Narratives like this can only emanate from debased minds, because Urhobo is one, there is nothing like Okpe and Urhobo, we are one entity, Omo-Agage’s quest for Senate comeback should not be used to create division in Urhobo Nation. Or is Omo-Agage and his supporters saying that Urhobos from Sapele are not Urhobo, yet he seeks to represent them? No wonder he didn’t cite anything tangible in Sapele as the then DSP!
The architects and drivers of such divisive narratives must be seen as the real enemies of the Urhobo people seeking to set brothers at war. Neither Oborevwori nor Dafinone has a bias for Urhobo-speaking areas over Okpe-speaking areas in their development vision for Delta State and Delta Central, respectively. None of the flyovers so far constructed is in the Okpe land. Dafinone’s imprimatur is more visible in Urhobo-speaking areas than in Okpe. What is important is impact, visibility, accessibility, qualitative and effective representation, and passion to serve the people. These are qualities that Oborevwori and Dafinone have demonstrated in quantum degrees. If anything, it is Ovie Omo-Agege, who located all his landmark projects in Orogun that has played the clannish card and must now take a back seat.
There is nothing sacrosanct about the so-called Eastern/Western Urhobo Divisions. These were British calibrations for effective colonisation and exploitation. Virtually all kingdoms in Western Urhobo are migrants from the East. There are no cultural and social divides between them. Oghara and Idjerhe trace their forbears to Agbarha; Okpe and Agbon to Olomu, and so on. An attempt to create a middle wall of partition will be tantamount to pitching brothers against one another to serve a personal political ambition.
A further danger in this narrative is that it awakens an already dying propaganda that Okpe is not Urhobo, an agenda that has been sponsored in the main, by neighbouring people to set Urhobo at war with themselves. No antidote has effectively weakened that falsehood more than the incumbent Okpe Governor and Senator representing the Urhobo exceptionally well. The sponsors of this narrative must now desist from this lowly propaganda that helps no one.
It is quite instructive that Olorogun Jaro Egbo, Chairman, Ughelli North LGA has shown generous support for Senator Ede Dafinone’s Declaration, which was held Sunday, April 26, 2026, at the Oharisi Primary School. It is within Jaro’s right and freedom to support whom he will. And if anything, it is a further pointer to Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege’s dwindling political following that a politician of Jaro Egbo’s standing, who once stood with Omo-Agege, has now pitched tent with Sen Ede Dafinone
We may conclude with this: Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and his media men should be the last people to argue for equity and fairness. The two higher institutions he flaunts as having influenced Delta Central are located in his village. That is not a federalist disposition. Furthermore, his involvement with the Urhobo sections of the pipeline surveillance contracts is still shrouded in secrecy and controversies, whereas the Ijaws spread the benefits of theirs to all their people And even if we accept without conceding, that another Senator for Delta Central was necessary, does it reflect equity and fairness for Ovie Omo-Agege to have a third term in a Senatorial District that boasts sterling intellectuals and political heavyweights? Is the lawyer from Orogun right for the Delta Central Senatorial position?
It is wisdom to leave the scene when the ovation is loudest. Sen Ovie Omo-Agege has had his time. He must now leave the scene for others to make their impact. We wish Senator Ede Dafinone a successful outing as he takes his turn after what has been touted as the “Mother of all Declarations”.
Emmanuel Ogheneochuko Arodovwe is a public affairs analyst from Delta Central Senatorial District
