By Thompson Akpoghalino
Since the inception of the recent republic in 1999, only the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been able to produce the Governor of Delta State. No other party (since 1999) has leveled up to the sagacity of the PDP in gubernatorial elections since 1999. The closest ever witnessed was in 2011 when the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) of Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru nearly caused an upset in the state but at the end of the re-run, the PDP was still declared winner and till today the rest is history.
Over the years, many opposition political parties have evolved in the state and since the emergence of the APC, APC has remained the only major opposition political party in Delta State. One of the major problems the opposition political parties have faced regarding the governorship contest is the disregard to the zoning principle established by the PDP which rotates the governorship position from one senatorial district to another in the state. Even the APC also failed severally to comply with the zoning arrangement introduced by the PDP. In 1999 and 2003 Delta Central produced the governor; PDP then zoned it to Delta South in 2007 and 2011 and in 2015 and 2019 Delta North. The zoning has continued again in 2023 with Delta Central.
In 2015 and 2019 when PDP were fielding a Delta North candidate, the Delta South senatorial districts who were expectant of the rotation voted for the PDP against the APC.
However, 2023 and 2027 is the turn of Delta Central but 2023 is already gone for the APC, the only opportunity the APC has now is 2027.
Which Candidate Can Win Delta State For APC?
There is no gain saying the headquarters of APC in Delta State is Delta Central. Many of the APC gladiators are in Delta Central and APC need to harness their strength in Delta Central to take power from PDP in Delta State. Some would be shocked, why many would agreed that the likely contenders for the gubernatorial position in APC would not be able to win the general election due to diverse reasons which are to public knowledge. The expected contenders for the governor’s office within the APC are (1) Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (2) Hon Festus Keyamo (3) Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru. These three would not be able to combat the PDP in an election due to the in-house animosity and vindictiveness between them. In 2019 Chief Great Ogboru was the gubernatorial candidate of the APC in Delta State while Senator Ovie Omo Agege won and returned to the senate for his second tenure, having won from Court in the first tenure when he contested under Labour Party, Chief Great Ogboru lost the gubernatorial election. It is rumoured that there was no reason Ogboru would have lost the election apart from being sabotaged by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege after he won and became Deputy President of the Senate, gave several assurances of assisting Chief Great Ogboru reclaim his stolen mandate in court within 90 days but those promises did not actualize and in line with the suspicion of many, Senator Omo-Agege did not assist Chief Great Ogboru at all because himself wanted to contest the 2023 election and if Chief Great Ogboru wins 2019, he would also run for 2023. Senator Omo-Agege who was already the leader of the party in Delta State as the Deputy President of the Senate held the party tightly and Chief Great Ogboru decamped from the party to APGA where he played a spoiler role against Senator Ovie Omo-Agege in the 2023 guber election and immediately after the announcement of the PDP as winner, Chief Great Ogboru was seen celebrating with the PDP in government house, Asaba.
To this end, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege would never support Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru for any political office and vice versa.
Again these two political candidates do not have the political goodwill within and outside the party to win the governorship election. First, if Senator Ovie Omo-Agege wins the APC guber ticked many APC leaders would not work for the party in the guber election 2027. This is sequel to the fact that after the 2023 election, when the issue of leadership of the APC in Delta State has been on, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has released his media dogs who drag all respected leaders of the party over the internet, cursing, embarrassing, and making jest of them online. Bad enough, only his supporters cannot make him win the election in the state. On the part of Chief Great Ogboru, many party faithfuls are not happy with his return to the APC having openly showed he sabotaged the party in 2023 guber election as candidate of APGA who worked for the PDP.
On the part of Hon. Festus Keyamo, he is an appointee who needs to resign from his ministerial appointment before he can contest. The majority of Delta Central people would not want him to resign, having suffered from the wrong decision made by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who would have had the rare opportunity of holding the office of the senate president for Delta Central but decided to run for governor.
The resignation of Hon. Festus Keyamo would not be fairly greeted by Delta Central people, and that would spell doom for him and the party in the state considering the long time of his resignation from the office and the time to contest for his election. It will have a negative impact on the election. There is also a strong battle of rivalry between Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and the Honourable Minister, which would be counterproductive if the Honourable Minister secures the party gubernatorial ticket. For instance, the recommendation of the reconciliation committee and the SWC, which recommends Ovie Omo-Agege and the Honourable Minister Festus Keyamo to co-chair and lead the APC in Delta State was repudiated by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. It is crystal clear that if any of them becomes the gubernatorial candidate of the party comes 2027, APC has missed it.
Take it or leave it, the easiest, stressless, and less combative opportunity APC has to Government House, Asaba is to feature Senator Ede Dafinone as her gubernatorial candidate in 2027. First and foremost, APC should be mindful of the fact that it is very difficult to defeat a governor running for a second tenure. The advantage of using Senator Ede Dafinone in this regard is, first, he is from the same Okpe Kingdom with the incumbent PDP governor who would be running for the second tenure. Secondly, statistically, Okpe has the highest votes in the entire Delta Central with two LGA [1] Sapele and [2] Okpe. It is an advantage to feature the serving senator who is performing ultimately and would conviniently contend for the votes of the Okpe nation to dislodge and defeat the PDP.
Again, since 1999, the opposition approach has been mainly combative, and it has yielded very little results. Most battles can not be won by strength alone. If not so Chief Great Ogboru and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege would have been governors, but some battles are won in simplicity and piety. Senator Ede Dafinone is a core gentleman and a simple man by nature. The toughest of men admires his personality. His humility, openness, and accessibility are his telisman.
Senator Ede Dafinone is not involved in the in-house fighting in APC, forget the within APC criticism of the amiable senator, Senator Ede Dafinone is delivering quality representation to his constituents as a first time senator and a senator not chairing any committee in the House. Ask other senators who fall into the same category. They will give you a full picture of what the situation is. One of the fallacies in the criticism of the senator is comparing his efforts and achievements with that of the former DSP Ovie Omo-Agege. This comparison has no basis. It is like comparing heaven and hell. We should not forget that Senator Omo-Agege in his first tenure in the senate did not perform.
Senator Ede Dafinone’s record as at now has surpassed Senator Omo-Agege’s entire first tenure. Dafinone is in the World Gunness Book of Record and a household name in Delta State. His father was also a notable senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His political weight transcended the old Bendel. Senator Ede Dafinone won the 2023 Senatorial election in Delta State. The PDP thought he was too simple to win. He defeated a one-time senator of the PDP by winning five Local Government Areas out of the eight. The result came as a rude shock to many. That is how to win PDP in an election. Many supporters of Senator Omo-agege are attributing the victory of Senator Ede Dafinone to Senator Omo-Agage but failed to realise that Senator Nwoaboshi who is a close associate and friend to Senator Omo-Agage who contested the same election, lost. There is no gain arguing, Senator Omo-agege won only four of the Local Government Areas out of the twenty-five in the State while Senator Ede Dafinone won five of the Local Government out of eight in Delta Central, your guess is as good as mine.
Senator Ede Dafinone is a gentle lion that should not be taken for granted. If APC wants to win the 2027 Guber, they should talk Senator Ede Dafinone into it. He would do the miracle of infiltrating and defeating the PDP strong hold in Delta State.
APC gubernatorial victory in Delta State is not in the thunder, neither is it in the lightening but in the gentle breeze; the yet undetected political potentials of Senator Ede Dafinone.
Thompson Akpoghalino, an unbiased political observer writes from Ozoro, Delta State
