The dilapidated state of Maryam Babangida Way, Asaba, where the Delta State headquarters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party is situated, provides a good metaphor for the state of affairs in the race for the governorship of the state that prides itself as the Big Heart.
Though the murky nature of the road, which is under construction by the state government is a source of concern to the people, aspirants in the governorship race appear determined to soldier on despite the emerging hurdles in the race.
For most of the week, the secretariat is quiet, almost abandoned. It only brightens up when a governorship aspirant emerges to formally inform the state executive committee of the party of his or her intention to run for the governorship; and then it goes silent again.
The governorship race itself is like the affairs at the Maryam Babangida Way in many respects. With just a few weeks to the primaries of the PDP, the rules and permutations are still ambivalent, being constructed and reconstructed now and then. At one time, the sentiments played in favour of zoning; at another, the party leadership spoke against zoning.
The unpredictable situation appears to have heightened the scale of political activities in the state, whose political fortunes seem to be tied to the whims and caprices of the PDP.
The story is worse in the other political parties, which had always looked forward to fallouts in the PDP to make fortune. A top member of the All Progressives Congress, the leading opposition party in the state, Mr. Paul Izie, dismisses allegations of inertia against his party.
“I think you are misreading the appearances on billboards as strength. We have many aspirants in the APC. It is just that they are doing their underground work now,” Izie, who is a special assistant to the state publicity secretary of the party, insists.
The Labour Party, the third biggest party in the state, is also quiet. But with the defection of the powerful former governorship candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party, Chief Great Ogboru, to the LP, it seems that the governorship ticket would be for him to keep.
In spite of the situation, however, the past few weeks have witnessed an upsurge in the number people aspiring to succeed the incumbent governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. Not entitled to a further term, Uduaghan has consistently appealed to aspirants to go out and campaign to win popular votes, rather than banking on election petitions to win.
The major highways are now looking different as the crowd of aspirants take up positions with their billboards to greet and intimate the people about their desire to contest the governorship of the state.
The early birds were Dr. Ngozi Olejeme, the Chairman of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, and Mr. Victor Ochei, the immediate past Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly. Both of them are of the PDP.
The PDP list also has Chief Peter Okocha, who was the candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (now merged with the APC) in 2007; Ndudi Elumelu, who is the Chairman of the Health Committee of the House of Representatives; Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, a former Secretary to the Delta State Government; Prof. Sylvester Monye, the Special Adviser to the President on Project Monitoring; Mrs. Esther Uduehi, a former Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters; Chief Gabriel Oyibode, a former ambassador; and Mr. Godwill Obielum, a former police officer and a frontline aspirant in 2007.
The PDP aspirants also include Dr. Festus Okubor, the Chief of Staff to the Governor; Chief Clement Ofuani, a former commissioner in the state; Mr. David Edevbie; Ovie Omo-Agege, who contested the 2011 by-election on the platform of ACN; and Dr. Ofoubiri Warri.
There is also the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godsday Orubebe; and a former Chairman of the Nigeria Legal Aid Council, Chief Kenneth Gbagi. The list is not exhaustive as many more aspirants are said to still be preparing to declare.
From the camp of the APC have emerged the names of Chief O’Tega Emerhor, Prof. Pat Utomi, and Lagos lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo. But apart from a flash of the posters of Utomi that appeared in the streets two months ago, none of the APC aspirants has yet to join the poster and billboard campaigns.
But the emergence of Chief Tony Obuh, the immediate past Permanent Secretary in Charge of Government House, Asaba, on the scene set a buzz about town. Even before he put in his papers to retire from the civil service, about two months ago, the speculation had become rife that he was the one ‘anointed’ to succeed Uduaghan.
His open campaign, however, started from the party his friends threw for him to celebrate his retirement in Asaba a few days after he quit the service. From then on it has been one party or the other, including a lavish one held for him by the Government House.
Obuh, who hails from the Ika area of the Delta-North senatorial zone, has not found time to plan a retirement holiday. It is doubtful if he has collected his retirement benefits. He has continued to crisscross the state to get the endorsement and blessings of influential politicians and traditional rulers, including that of a former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark.
Confronted by reporters at a recent function, Obuh said, “I want to build on the blocks laid down already. I’m trained, equipped and prepared. I know governance is not about flamboyance. I’m standing as a symbol of unity because I have never fought any political war with anybody.
Politics is not a do-or-die affair for me. If I win, it’s is to the glory of God and if I don’t, which is not likely to be, it is to the glory of God. The race is open and we hope to give it our best shot. I have moved round, soliciting support from party leaders and member.”
Commenting on the insinuation that he had the support of the governor, Obuh said: “Any aspirant would naturally like to have the support of the governor but the fact is that the governor has not declared support for any aspirant. We cannot allow those who do not have the interest of our people at heart, and have no plans for the future of Delta State and our collective wellbeing to discontinue the progress of the past seven and half years.”
It is widely believed that his campaigns are heavily backed by the Government House, whose staff also form part of his campaign team. From Asaba, the state capital, to Warri, the commercial hub; and all along the major highways to strategic junctions in the state, Obuh’s billboards are springing up and his posters adorning walls across the state.
Though he has spent most of his working career as a civil servant, Obuh is no doubt very versed with the political class. His exposure to politics actually began in 1993 during the tenure of Chief Felix Ibru as governor — when he was appointed as the Director of Personnel in the Governor’s Office.
Since then he has familiarised himself with the nitty-gritty of the governance of Delta State, having remained in Government House until a few months ago when he retired at the age of 57 and after putting in 32 years in service.
Obuh’s emergence on the scene has no doubt changed equations both in the camp of the aspirants of the incumbent governor and the entire state.
Before Obuh came in, there were speculations that Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who served as Secretary to the State Government in Uduaghan’s first tenure, was the ‘anointed’ one. That was why it was said the former Speaker, Ochei, who had not hidden his ambition resigned as speaker because he insisted on running.
Though Obuh hails from Delta-North, whose people demand that based on equity, they be allowed to produce the next governor, there have been opposition from several quarters.
Some Delta-North people argue that though they want one of their own to emerge as governor, they should be allowed to make their own choice, not one imposed by an outsider.
Some people from the other two zones have said Delta-North cannot have both the state capital and the governor. They have to choose one, they argue.
Meanwhile, Elumelu, has declared his intention to run for governor of Delta State.
The lawmaker, who is the younger brother of renowned banker, Tony Elumelu, made the declaration St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Onicha-Uku in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, on Wednesday.
Elumelu, who also runs a non-governmental organisation, Ndudi Elumelu Foundation, also donated 10 vehicles and 30 tricycles for distribution to people in the three senatorial districts of the state as part of his empowerment programmes.
With no official word coming from Uduaghan, only time will tell if he will succeed in installing his choice against all odds the way his predecessor, James Ibori, installed him.
Source: PUNCH.
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