Delta 2023: Battle of defections before the polls

The gubernatorial election in Delta State will be a two-horse race between the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the other parties are not still visible, less than two months before the general elections. With the ticket fight in the PDP put to rest by a Supreme Court judgment, the party entered the field with the confidence to retain its position as the party to beat in the state.

His candidate and Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, backed by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and other members, traveled across the state soliciting votes at all levels, including including the presidential election, where Okowa is vice-president. candidate. But the wounds of the legal battle have not yet fully healed, and scars remain, as some politicians in the camp of plaintiff and May 2022 primary runner-up Olorogun David Edevbie got cold feet about the campaigns. They have been conspicuously absent from gatherings, even at his doorstep. Indeed, the former finance commissioner and former Okowa chief of staff is currently vacationing overseas at the height of the campaigns.

James Ibori

Ibori, Edevbie, Manager absent from PDP campaigns

Perhaps more importantly, and clearly concerning to some observers, is the 'no-show' of former state governor, Edevbie's main backer in the primary and key player, Chief James Ibori . In virtually every campaign so far, the leader of the political dynasty Ibori, whose daughter is a candidate for the House of Representatives on the PDP platform, has never featured, leading many to believe he is not is not yet Uhuru in PDP.

It is believed that his presence would have sent a message of full reconciliation within the party and deterred some of his men and supporters from leaving the party and given him more verve to carry on. It would also have encouraged its many supporters to rejoin the umbrella by taking an active part in the campaigns.

The former governor's great silence in the affairs of his party, both state and national, lends credence to rumors that he may indeed have a trump card and be looking in one direction different, having suffered what his loyalists saw as a humiliation from one of his own, given the loss of his godson, Edevbie. Also, her daughter nearly missed the ballot, but for a by-election and post-tie haggling in the first primary election. While some PDP observers in the state say Ibori may support another party's candidate and will make his position known on the eve of the gubernatorial election, others, who claimed to be aware, insisted that it remains a good party. man, who cannot understand the anti-party activities.

Indeed, Okowa's chief press officer and state campaign board member, Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, when asked about Ibori in the party's campaigns, said he was "fine, he is fine ". Recalling that the former governor was always on the sidelines or at large in presidential campaigns and even serving as party governor, Ifeajika added, "Well, he didn't appear in public as such, but he remains a member of the PDP, one more leader. He remains in the PDP and has not left for another party. As to whether he supports the candidates of the party, the Okowa spokesperson enthused "Of course, why not? Don't forget that his daughter is the party's candidate for the Ethiopian Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, while his very good friend, Chief Ighoyota Amori, is the party's candidate for the Delta Central Senatorial Constituency and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, his cousin, is very very involved and at the forefront of our campaigns Indeed, another former Governor, Okowa's...