BY HUGO ODIOGOR
Watchers of the political drama that attended the emergence of Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa as the standard bearer of Peoples’ Democratic Party’s in the 2015 governorship race will not forget in a hurry the palpable fear that pervaded the atmosphere at the Event centre, Asaba, the venue of the governorship primaries held on December 8, 2014.
For the 26 aspirants, their supporters and the accredited delegates, whose mandate was either “to liberate the state from pervasive mediocrity and sycophancy or to continue with the status quo”, the task was not going to be easy.
Dramatic events
The dramatic turn of events that resulted in the dropping of Sir Tony Chuks Obuh from the race was too hard for the man and his supporters to swallow. Sir. Obuh had about three years to stay in the civil service and everybody expected that at most, he would retire as the head of service, but he was encouraged by circumstances around him to retire and contest to be the next governor of the state. Sir. Tony Obuh formally retired in August.
The Okowas at home
Before Obuh pulled out of service, Dr. Uduaghan was said to have called a meeting where the Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chief Ighoyota Amori, the Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovuzure Macaulay and the former State Chairman of PDP, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi were in attendance. The Governor briefed them of his decision to allow power shift to Delta North. This was the genesis of the Obuh project.
When his journey came to an abrupt end on December 7th, it was a shocker to Sir Tony Obuh, his family, supporters and political opponents. In fact the entire Delta North was thrown off guard as they saw Delta North 2015 slipping away.
The Rescue Mission
The looming humiliation that came with the news of Dr. Uduaghan dropping Sir Obuh was too hard for the Obuh Camp to contain and there was no time to organize any rescue mission. There was no plan B and there was nobody to reach out to. Sir Obuh became a pawn in the political chess game between Chief James Ibori, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and the Stakeholders in the state. Name droppers went to town that it was the presidency that asked that Sir Obuh should be dropped. Of course there was no truth in this. For most Anioma people, the idea of dropping Obuh was seen as a response to the series of threats by the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) which had insisted that its members would vote against the PDP and against President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, if the governorship ticket was not given to Delta Central. The Obuh drama added apprehension and revulsion to the power game as he was said to have lost the support of Dr. Uduaghan who was now said to have endorsed Olorogun David Edevbie, an aspirant from Delta Central which is opposed to equity in the political space. But Uduaghan’s action was said to have been fueled by the lack of cooperation from Delta North people who appeared to be fighting him in spite of his preference for a Delta North candidate to emerge next governor. And since the more than 15 candidates from Delta North would not agree to reach some agreement to present one or two candidates there was this fear that they would split the votes and finally lose the chance.
This caused the last minute change that craved for support for Edevbie, an Urhobo candidate who was expected to pull the votes of the majority Urhobo tribe and some others to emerge. Obuh was to be offered the position of his running mate and would have another shot at the post after Edevbie. This development was seen either as a betrayal or as a capitulation by Governor Uduaghan, depending on which side of the divide you belong. This made Delta North people more united. Meetings were held and they decided to queue behind Okowa. Surprisingly, Edevbie did not get the total support of the Urhobo and it turned huge advantage to Okowa who had remained resilient.
Delta North trembles
Taken together, Delta North people saw their cause as less optimistic. Most dreadful was the prospect of living under the hegemony of Delta Central if the PDP Governorship Project was blown into shreds. This was the atmosphere prevailing in the state as the stage was set for the primaries.
The Poisoned chalice
For many Urhobo politicians, Dr. Uduaghan handed them a poisoned chalice. The endorsement of Chief Edevbie came too late that he could not utilize whatever advantage the incumbency factor was supposed to confer on him.
Okowa’s burden
Dr. Okowa had been favoured to win the primaries even though he had to face the stiff challenge that came his way from all directions. In 2007, he narrowly lost to Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.
Dr. Okowa emerged tops in the screening organized by Anioma Congress to trim the number of aspirants from Delta North. He was followed by Hon. Victor Ochei and Hon. Ndudi Elumelu. But some other aspirants protested against the work of the Anioma Congress. The introduction of Sir Tony Obuh and Hon. Charles Elumelu’s names in the work of the Anioma Congress created further complications. The Secretary General of Anioma Congress, Sir Dan Okenyi told Saturday Vanguard that “the victory of Dr. Okowa is a vindication of the work of Anioma Congress.” Sir Okenyi said even Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has called the Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Chike Edozien, to commend the foresight of the Anioma Congress in the choice of Okowa who seems to have a Pan
Deltan Agenda
Okowa won the votes of Bomadi, Patani, and Burutu Local Governments. Okowa also won solidly in Isoko North and South. The votes from Warri South and Warri South West also went to Okowa. He received about 45% votes from the Delta Central. This minimized the impact of the 185 votes that Hon. Ochei received and the 50 and 49 votes that went to Hon. Elumelu and Elder Godsday Orubebe, respectively. A former Chairman of Oshimili South Ogbueshi John Efianya, said the victory of Okowa at the PDP primaries was the beginning of the battle ahead.
According to Efianya “We must sustain the grassroots and Pan Deltan appeal of the Okowa candidacy. We have to work with Delta South and retain the friendship of Delta Central who shunned divisive politics.”
The political strategists in Delta Central have gone to the drawing board to decide which party they will adopt for the 2015 election. Chief Great Ogboru who has been contesting to be governor since 2003, is the flag bearer of Labour Party while Olorogun O’Tega Emerhror is the candidate of All Progressive Congress. Dr. Okowa is not carried away by the euphoria that he picked the PDP ticket because it’s still morning yet on creation day.
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