Okowa Halts Attempt By ‘Delta South PDP Leaders’ to Endorse Oborevwori

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

The 2023 gubernatorial ambition of the Speaker of Delta State House Assembly, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, may have hit the rocks as an apparently desperate move by a handful of influential politicians, under the auspices of ‘Delta South PDP Leaders’, to foist Oborevwori on Delta South senatorial district as the preferred aspirant of Governor Okowa collapsed yesterday.

THISDAY learnt that a meeting held at the Asaba residence of the Managing Director of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Bashorun Askia Ogieh, failed to realise its mission as Governor Okowa promptly stepped in to halt the meeting and to caution the so-called Delta South PDP leaders from proceeding in error and false ground.

It was further learned that the meeting was meant to hand-twist the governor into accepting the Speaker as the preferred choice successor to the office as the Oborevwori camp has been trying hard to create the impression that Okowa had anointed him already.

The Askia Ogieh group, which also has in its fold the current Chairman of DESOPADEC, Hon. Michael Diden, who is also eyeing the Delta South senatorial seat currently occupied by another declared governorship aspirant, Senator James Manager, contrived the aborted endorsement meeting without regard to the aspiration of Senator Manager and another aspirant from the district, Deputy Governor Kingsley Otuaro.

Diden, who is popularly known as Ejele, and has reportedly attempted to intimidate former governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan (an Itsekiri), from of the Delta South 2023 senatorial race by insisting that he was the right Itsekiri man for the job being the right-hand man of Okowa, was expected to be endorsed by the group too.

Chieftains of the party mainly of Isoko and Itsekiri extraction attended the meeting at Ogieh house in Asaba.

The failed meeting was coming on the heels of the alleged directive by the governor to get his aides and government functionaries down to the local government level to give the Oborevwori gubernatorial project all the support, and alleged express permission for the DESOPADEC chairman to bankroll his consultations and campaign.

Okowa has, however, denied having endorsed anyone as his successor, choosing instead to continue to keep his cards tightly to his chest, insisting he was still looking up to God in prayer to show him who his successor would be eventually.

Nevertheless, THISDAY gathered that barely 10 minutes into the aforementioned meeting, a call came from the governor, who was said to be quite upset by the antics of the group, that a stop be immediately put to the meeting.

Thus, the meeting ended abruptly; perhaps also the permutations of the masterminds of the deft move stamp Okowa’s powerful imprimatur on the game-plan.

Nevertheless, the governor was said to have called some members of the group to urgently meet at his country home in Owa-Alero, Ika North-East Local Government Area of the state.

The meeting at Okowa’s home was said to be still ongoing at the time of filing this report last night (Friday).

Depending on how the whole thing pans out, the development may well confirm the widely rumoured advice by the governor to discontinue his consultations for the governorship, but to obtain forms for the Okpe/Uvwie/Sapele federal constituency instead. 

The rumour also fuelled speculation that Okowa might have settled for another man from Delta Central, his Chief of Staff, Hon. Festus Ovie Agas, though the Information Commissioner, Charles Aniagu, has denied the claim saying that Ovie Agas, a former deputy speaker and Secretary to the State Government (SSG) was only resigning as Okowa’s Chief of Staff to enable him exercise his right as a statutory delegate of the PDP.

The governor also touted to be eyeing the party’s vice presidential ticket with a possible presidential candidate from Northern Nigeria, but pressure on him to endorse Olorogun David Edevbie, the preferred godson of former governor James Ibori, has left Okowa in an dicey situation as he also has two prominent Ijaw aspirants from Delta South, Senator James Manager and Kingsley Otuaro (his deputy) to consider for the position of PDP flag-bearer in 2023.