Seven Persons Hospitalised as Building  Collapses in Delta

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

The incidence of collapsed buildings in the country reared its ugly head in Asaba, the Delta State capital yesterday  with the collapse of a storey building on the busy Nnebisi Road.

At least, seven persons rescued from the wreckage of the building have been hospitalised, but no death was recorded, the report said. 

The old building, which once accommodated the state Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a stone throw from the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba.

Although  the cause of the collapse was not known at the time of filing this report, the current flooding in parts of the state, including nearby residential areas on the bank of the River Niger in Asaba where the ill-fated building is situated is being suspected.

There was yet no official statement  on the disaster either from the authorities of Oshimili South Local Government of the state emergency office.

This is coming at a time Asaba, and indeed the entire state, has been literally holding its breath for the outcome of the Supreme Court’s consideration of the legal tussle between two governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

There was atmosphere of palpable anxiety in Asaba and other parts of Delta State as the state awaited the decision of the Supreme Court today on the dispute over the 2023 governorship candidacy of PDP in Delta State involving Sheriff Oborevwori and David Edevbie.

Both aspirants have a 50:50 chance to emerge victorious  by the verdict of the Supreme Court today as they resorted  to prayers  for the judicial pendulum to swing in their favour.

THISDAY learnt that some supporters of Oborevwori, who is also Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly and who was declared winner of the May 25, 2022 PDP gubernatorial primary election held at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, spent hours at different locations, including the Government House Asaba Chapel, praying for their candidate.

Edevbie, who is widely believed to be the choice of  former governor James Ibori, proceeded to the apex country in the land following the quashing of his judicial victory at the High Court sitting in Abuja in July by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

The three-time former finance commissioner in the state then approached the Supreme Court, questioning the judicial correctness of the appellate court which restored Oborevwori, who is the choice of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as the  duly elected PDP governorship candidate for the 2023 election in Delta State.

Although Oborevwori and Edevbie are of  Urhobo ethnic extraction, and both men hail from Delta Central senatorial district, the undeclared political animosity between the former governor (Ibori) and the incumbent (Okowa) is believed to be at the bottom of the fierce division within the state PDP.

Whoever carries the day from the judgement of the Supreme Court today, a clear definition of the roadmap for the party’s campaigns towards the 2023 general would have been established.