In a bid to outwit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which, by all permutation for all appears to have “zoned” its governorship ticket to the Delta North Senatorial zone of the State, the All Progessives Congress (APC) may have zones its own ticket to Delta Central.
No official statement has being made by the APC to this effect, but the party’s body language and reliable feelers from both national and state leaderships of the party strongly point at this direction.
APC’s hope on Delta Central candidacy apparently arises from the calculation the Central zone, made up mainly of the Urhobo people commands majority voting population of over 57% of the state. The party is further galvanised by the hard stance by UPU, the umbrella organisation of the Urhobos, will not to vote for any of the dominant parties that fails to field their son for the Delta Governorship race.
To prove it is serious on that hard-line, UPU has gone ahead to impose social sanctions and ostracised some of its notable political sons found to be working against the Urhobo’s governorship while hobnobbing or promoting governorship candidates from other zones. Those so far sanctioned include Chief Ighoyota Amori, Political Adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, Chief Monday Igbuya Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Ben Igbakpa, Commissioner for Transport, Chief Olori Magege, Chairman of Delta State Waste Management Board and Olorogun Jaro Egbo, a PDP Delta State House of Assembly aspirant, and more others will follow.
Since 2010, Delta Central has become the hot bed of opposition politics in a state erstwhile dominated by the PDP. In 2011, the opposition through the defunct DPP defeated PDP and got 9(nine) State Assembly members, one House of Representative and a Senator elected mainly from Delta Central. At the electoral Tribunal the opposition guber candidate lost at the court by a slim margin of less than 10,000 votes!
If confirmed, the zoning of the APC ticket to Delta Central will set an epic governorship battle that will not only be that of PDP versus APC but that of Delta North versus Delta Central!
Political watchers conversant with the political variables in Delta are already predicting an interesting but hard knuckle fight. APC is said to be cashing in on the strong agitation for change among the dominant Urhobo majority who continue to agonise their loss of state capital to Delta North aggravated by continued political marginalisation the Delta Central people in the past eight years of the PDP and Uduaghan led administration; both at the state and the national levels.
The Urhobos over the years have been accorded fair share in the national politics as the fifth largest ethic nationality until the coming Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s who Urhobos voted overwhelmingly for in the 2011 presidential election. Not even the face-saving mere two appointments at the wee hour of his administration out over 19 appointments he allotted to Delta State after several protests by Urhobos including the leadership of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU inorder to regain the support of the once abandoned Urhobo people who he has placed at a political disadvantage in the PDP and by extension in Delta state has been able to douse the widespread anger in the zone.
The strategy for winning, between the PDP/Delta North and APC/Delta Central, analyst predict, will include the ability of each group to penetrate the remaining zone of Delta South with the odds favouring Central in the estimation of many political watchers. Delta South populated mainly by the Ijaws, Isokos and Itsekiris are more of neighbours and relatives of the Urhobos in Central. Moreover, significant populations of Urhobo people is found in about four local government areas out of the eight LGA’s in of that zone. The Isokos, are by all accounts of ancestral lineage, are one and the same stock as the Urhobos.
The Ijaws who also share great affinity with the Urhobos have, over the years enjoyed robust relationship with Urhobos as major political allies dating back to pre-independence days. Even till now, an average Ijaw well feel much at home with an Urhobo than any other tribe in Delta state because of the ethnic harmony that has existed between them.
The APC/ Delta Central may be banking on this filial relationship to boast their penetration beyond ethnic boundaries. The PDP/Delta North, however, may be banking on its federal might, incumbency support andaccess to resources and instruments of coercion, intimidation and electoral malpractice which have become their stock-in-trade in Delta State since 1999.
All put together, analyst hail the potential of an epoch battle in Delta 2015 Governorship with tone of battle so clear, so early. The stage appears set and the key flag bearers seem to be emerging from the horizon! In the PDP/Delta North, all fingers seem to point to Mr Tony Obuh, a former Permanent Secretary in Governor Uduaghan’s office who retired barely three months ago and being speculated to be Governor Uduaghan’s anointed candidate. For the APC/Delta Central, the lead and only front runner candidate of the party is Olorogun O’tega Emerhor.
Emerhor is a wealthy business mogul from Delta Central. Recently, on a visit to declare his intention to UPU, the Urhobo umbrella organisation, the UPU was so excited by his prospects that they practically endorsed him and warned PDP to be ready for battle.
During that visit, the President General of UPU, Chief Joe Omene affirmed that the union is not going back on its decision, explaining that the party gives its governorship flag to Urhobo will enjoy their over one million votes. Omene added that Chief O’tega Emerhor has contributed immensely to the development of Urhobo and that they will not hesitate to give his party their maximum supports if he is given the APC ticket.
Adding that, “Urhobo is unwavering on the spirit of the Ovwiamughe declaration which affirms that Urhobo will mobilise its over one million majority votes in Delta for the alternate party, APC, for both the governorship and the presidential elections should PDP refuse Urhobo candidacy for the 2015 governorship in Delta.
In Delta 2015, the die appears to be getting cast so early!
Written by Azuka Chukunalu, A public commentator.
