DELTA: Why Ibori, Uduaghan, Okowa could not agree on consensus candidate

…Uduaghan opens up on what transpired

•Reveals how God’s directed him to work with Okowa to deliver Oborevwori

•Confident Ibori will not leave PDP; APC cannot take over Delta 

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South

HAD the three legs of the power triangle, brand them godfathers of Delta State politics –  the Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; ex-governors, Chief James Ibori, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, harmoniously resolved on a consensus Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate for the March 11 governorship polls , no other political force in the state could have fruitfully dared them.

 However, they did not see eye to eye. In fact, it was not until November 2022 that  Uduaghan broke the ice, a month after the Supreme Court finally proclaimed Sheriff Oborevwori as the authentic gubernatorial standard-bearer. Even at that, a week to the Presidential/National Assembly polls, and 22 days to the Governorship elections, in the state, Ibori, is still in his cocoon.

 What panned out in truth between the three influential politicians over the successor of Okowa, vice presidential candidate of the PDP  in next Saturday’s presidential election;   why is Ibori so unyielding; how did Uduaghan, similarly wounded, overcome the challenge; and how did Oborevwori become a project that he has become in the hands of two of the godfathers? Saturday Vanguard, during the week, pinned down one of the principal actors, Dr. Uduaghan, to tell his part of the gripping spectacle. Excerpts:

Sometime in November, last year, you took the political scene of the state by storm when you declared support for the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori, from the trench where you and James Ibori fought for Olorogun David Edevbie, what propelled this decision?

Well, when the governorship race started, I will not say that I was in the forefront of support for any of the governorship aspirants. If you observed, when I left the office I was away for some time, and when I came back, the political environment was not comfortable for me because of the way the transition was. I had to take a decision on what to do when I saw the political environment, should I just remain or leave politics entirely?

I ended up with the that I should not leave politics, I should just stay, whatever the issues were. There were so many stories about by performance and what I left behind, many of these stories were not true, so I had an option of either fighting with the government that had just taken over or just pulling back and allowing time to bring out some of the truths. Because some of the things that were outside were not quite true, some of my supporters were putting pressure on me to fight, but I said no, I would not fight; instead, I would just pull back and watch.

My exit and return to PDP

I was even trying to make peace with the governor then, but things were not healthy and I just pulled back. Of course, in my local government, some of the people that I was their leader had been so empowered that whatever I wanted to do, they play a leadership role over me. I understand government very well, I have been there for 16 years, and I knew what was happening. However, I do not know how long they could stretch my patience; therefore, I decided that instead of me to wait for them to be doing that, let me just move to the All Progressives Congress, APC, to avoid what they call stories and touch. I wanted to avoid fighting my own party from the inside, which was why I went to the APC.

 After staying in APC for about 18 months or so, I found that the grass was not even greener there, the grass there was brown and very bad, in fact, it was even better to have stayed in the PDP. Really, certain persons, who felt I should not have moved to APC in the first instance approached me and mounted pressure on me to return. If you noticed, I did not carry many people to APC, so I had to come back, especially as our political leader, Chief James Ibori, is in PDP, and these people maintained that the appropriate quarters would address whatever issues that led to my exit if I come back to PDP.

When I returned back, I remained quiet until the primaries for the elective positions. I think it was during that time my daughter said she wanted to contest for House of Assembly, which was a shocker for me because she wanted to contest in my own local government area, Warri North, I knew that the political situation there would not favour her. Politics is very intriguing and people might not understand, so initially, I tried to discourage her, but behold, she had gone far in the movement. Therefore, it took me about one week to say if you have gone this far, there was no need to say go back. I had to support her, however, as I predicted, it did not work, I do not want to go into the reasons why it did not work.

Thriving rumour industry in Delta

After that, it was like there was a little lull, Olorogun David Edevbie went to court, and Ibori was a major supporter of Edevbie. Some of us, who are close to Ibori were with him during the period at the Federal High Court, Appeal Court and Supreme Court. Edevbie won in the Federal High Court and lost in the Appeal Court and Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was clear that the candidate is Sheriff Oborevwori, and in all these, there were mere allegations against Sheriff about his certificate.

Nobody has proved anything, there was no forensic audit, and therefore, I reasonably thought that what they said about him was based on rumour. Moreover, Delta is a state that has a rumour industry that is really thriving. In fact, the industry does not only just have a chairman, it has a board of directors, and I have been a victim. So, I understand.

After the Supreme Court victory, we sat down with Ibori as the leader to review what next. People had their different opinions about what we should do and all that, and up until that time, I had not even thought of what I should do. I just wanted to be in one quiet corner and watch things, but in doing so, I also said let me go to God, and let Him direct me on the next step. That was how I started very serious prayers for one week.

The ‘small voice’

I just woke up one morning and I have a small voice that talks to me from time to time, and which had made me survive many battles.

 You know that I had many battles and I survived most of them because of that small voice. Most times, it is when I am having my bath that most of my decisions are taken or when I wake up at the early hours of the day. Therefore, as I woke up one morning, the first thing I heard was ‘Go and work with the governor.’ I thought I did not hear well, the voice came again, “Go and work with the governor’. I told myself ah, but I recognized the voice.

I told myself it is as if they were telling me to go and put my head on the slab, but the instruction kept ringing in my ears even while asleep. Therefore, when I was reflecting during the day, I said to myself, ‘this one that God was asking me to go and do something, and I am refusing, let me not end up like Jonah.’ That is how I now called my senatorial chairman and told him to call a meeting of the senatorial district, and that I wanted to talk to them.

My apprehension, conversation with Okowa

I was also apprehensive because I know that the state has been divided into various groups and all, and I do not even know whether my senatorial chairman and secretary do not belong to different groups. However, I told the chairman that I do not want any factional meeting; that I wanted a PDP meeting and he told me he would call everybody.

About one hour later, somebody called me and said he heard I was calling a meeting, he asked if I had told the governor, I said no, asking him why I should obtain permission from the governor; that this is my senatorial district. All the same, after that, I also sent a text message to the governor, and within 30 minutes, he called me, saying that he heard I was calling a senatorial meeting, and that it is very good.

I pretended as if I did not hear him well and asked him, what did you say? He said ‘it is very good.’ I said, ‘that is very strange because some people said you would disown me’. He laughed, and said, ‘disown you, why? I said, ‘they said you would be angry that I am calling this kind of meeting.’ He said no, ‘why should he get angry.’ That he was busy at the national and knew that there were challenges in the state, and he needed somebody of my pedigree and capacity to be able to handle some of the challenges. That he knows that if I talk, they will respect me, and I said okay. He said he would be back the next week and that was how I went ahead with the meeting.

At the meeting, the hall was full to capacity, and everybody from all sides was all there. I started appealing to them that the primaries were over, some people have tickets, and the fight should be over, except we want to destroy the party in the state. That those who had the ticket, should approach those that did not get, and try to make peace, and seek their support for the main election because the main election is the bigger issue than the primaries. That practically everybody is aggrieved; whether they think, I am happy that they stopped my daughter; that I was not happy, but for me, she has acquired experience by participating.

Really, I must confess, she did very well as a first timer, and everybody acknowledged that too.

She fell, but had already stood up and started pursuing her program, what she was doing and is doing more. They know her more now, not just at the local government level, but also even at the state level, and they are even giving her a lot of responsibilities, so people should just calm down and work together.

God’s grace is upon Sheriff Oborevwori

Yes, I have known Sheriff and the candidates for the various parties, and I believe that Sheriff is the best among all those that are contesting for the March 11 governorship for many reasons. There are reasons that are very private, but being a Speaker for six years in the Delta state House of Assembly is not a tea party and I think he is the first person that has created that record. That shows that he has become a master in crisis management.

Yes, he worked with me in charge of security when I was governor, so I know him. The House of Assembly is one of the most cantankerous parts of government, almost 30 people, feel they are equal, and the Speaker is just first among equals. Therefore, from time to time, they try to trouble him, but he is smart enough to have been able to keep that House together for six years plus and is still the Speaker.

 He has also gained experience while in government in the area of infrastructure, human capital development and other things, so that was how I threw myself into supporting him.

When I decided that I want to go and see him in his house, some people opposed it, but I said, he is our governorship candidate, though he had visited me in my house in the past, let me go and pay him an official visit, and it turned out to be very positive. Therefore, that is how I did a turnaround.

What I later found out about Sheriff Oborevwori and I want to say it here is that God’s grace is upon him. When God’s grace is upon you, nobody can do to stop you. Also, there is no assignment God will give to you that you will not succeed. Sheriff’s case is an example of God’s grace upon him. Whoever thought that Sheriff would become governor, even himself; when you talk to him, he still says it. He believes it is God’s grace and I know it is God’s grace. In addition, whatever structure is supporting him, I can tell you that it is by the grace of God. God is just giving people assignments to go and deliver him.

Did you discuss the ‘small voice’ with Ibori, and what was his response?

What happened is this, as I said and as you might have noticed, I did not discuss it with anybody before making a move. It was after I had made a move and come back that I did that. He (Ibori) was in Lagos at the time. First, I went to see the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, who is the Chairman of the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers and after that,  I spoke to Ibori about what I was doing.

He encouraged me, he was not angry, he was not antagonistic, and somehow, his body language showed that he was happy, but I think that at that point, he, probably had a burden like his followers had come to a crossroads, and I think one of them has left that crossroad,  and followed one of the roads.

What is obvious is that I have been able to decide where I will be. He advised me on a few things. As I said, he was not antagonistic; I know a few people around him, even within my family, were not happy, they misread what happened thinking that I was fighting Ibori. We may have our differences but I was not fighting him and after that, of course, I was briefing him on how I was moving. When we go to campaigns, I brief him.

 I also tried to see how I could close the gap between him and of course, my successor, and so far, it has not worked.

What is happening with the campaign and political field presently in the state?

To me, it has been interesting, I just decided to assist the governor in leading the party, and you know when you are on seat as a governor, it is probably much easier for you to do certain things. As I told people, when I was on seat as governor, my red pen was final in many cases. If I am engaging two people, I throw many things on the table for them, you, take this, you, take that, and we negotiate. Something like if, you did not get the ticket, I promise you an alternative because I had the red pen and I am the one that would sign the alternative.

 Therefore, it was a lot easier for me then. This one now is to lobby for an alternative,  but somehow, they believe in me, I mean the people that I engage, some believe, some do not believe, and ironically, it is the people I thought would give me the greatest support because they were quite close to me, that are really giving me some challenges.

Some would tell me they want to talk to the governor in person, and I tell them that I am not stopping them from seeing the governor, but they must also understand that with your level and experience in the political family, you should be making things easier and not more difficult for him. Again, that is the nature of human beings, which is why I said that what you see while in office, sometimes, is different from what you see when you are out of office. The people that use to worship you while you were in office when you are out of office, act as if you are nothing.

My happiness is that at the end of the day if you do not take time, you would just become irrelevant. One has been in politics long enough to be able to predict the ending or an ending to a particular person’s action and behaviour. I do not want to mention names but if you see what is happening in the political space now, the G-5 (group of five PDP governors), for instance, where they are ending, what is the ultimate?

 They said they would talk about their presidential candidate and we have about 12 days to go for the election as I speak to you, today (Monday, February 13). So when are they going to mention it, a day to the election or how are they going to manage it, it is going to be very difficult for them to manage, and everybody is just waiting, so, you can predict where that one would end.

Strange political equation

I went round Delta state, I spoke to leaders in my senatorial district, which is Delta South; I spoke to leaders in Delta North in Asaba; and of course, I called a meeting in Delta Central, held at Jesse. The leaders of Delta Central put up a team to go and meet Chief James Ibori, they held a discussion with him, and the Delta State Elders Council had a discussion with him privately.

I have tried; there are some areas that are intractable, very difficult to engage, and areas in which for the first time I was hearing about three over five, and two over five.

What three over five means is that you vote for three people in PDP, and the other two will be another party, maybe House of Assembly, House of Representatives in PDP, then the governor and president in another party.

 I keep telling them that it is the most dangerous thing to do, call it political suicide.

Because the people you are supporting in the other party, if they win, you cannot be their first consideration, you will be like a third -class or less for they already have their own political family and group that they will consider first, no matter what you put into their campaign or their winning. You will not be a priority, so it is better to work for members of your party, if they win, even if they are pushing aside, you will still be able to fight inside, and you see, four years, at most eight years is not so long.

Engaging people, who are aggrieved, is not easy. Some would still tell you that the problem is the way they conducted the primaries, but for God’s sake, the primaries are gone, they had since declared winners, and names sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Nobody can do anything about it now; only the court can reverse any situation now. Moreover, it is even too late for the court now, so what do you want to do?

You want to move to another party, and a few members of one group they call Delta Unity Group, DUG, have moved, but many remained in the PDP. In fact, about one week after moving, some of them were saying that if they had known, they would not have moved to another party. They are already regretting and I know what that place is like; they will not fit in. PDP members should not split their hair over who is moving or not moving, those who have gone are free to go, they will meet in the field.

Do you see Senator Omo-Agege, which is APC, upturning the table against PDP in the March 11 polls?

No, no, no, we get intelligence, we get reports, and we get assessments, PDP will win, what we are doing is how to widen the gap in both the presidential and governorship polls. From what we are hearing, PDP is ahead in the presidential and governorship, but our task is in all the elections, how do we widen the gap.

At a time, political watchers knew that you were pained, and Ibori was mediating between you and Okowa, but currently, in a role reversal,  you are the one interceding between Ibori and Okowa, where has this placed you, and do you see Ibori coming home fully before the March 11 polls?

 Yes, Ibori mediated between the governor and me at a point in time. When I went to the APC, the mediation simmered down. However, when I came back, we just continued as if nothing happened. When it was now time to choose who will succeed the governor, the focus was now more between Ibori and the governor, because, being the third leg of the triangle, I tried as much as possible to be more of a mediator, rather than a strong supporter of any of them. I did it based on my 2014 experience, where the two of them were on one side though I was the sitting governor.

You know that at a point, I had to back down in that 2014. So this one now, I said okay, I believe three of us should have sat down, maybe ask the governor to bring us some names, say three names, and we debate and accept one. However, that meeting was not, we met I think once or twice, but we could not even get to the stage of where we said bring names. We were just having preambles, appealing for peace, and one united family.

We were not focused,  and so, what I tried to do then was maybe because I am the third person, I said that two of them should try and meet, and call me and say okay, it is so and so the person that we want to be governor. I know that once the three of us accept, it will be difficult for any other person in the party to say no. That was what I wanted, but it did not happen up to the primaries.

It is very unfortunate, a lot of damage occurred; it opened many wounds, and I am hoping that the wounds would heal. In all, one thing is clear, Ibori will not leave PDP, he is one of the founding fathers of PDP, and he is still very much around.

Source Vanguard: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/02/delta-why-ibori-uduaghan-okowa-could-not-agree-on-consensus-candidate/