From Paul Osuyi, Asaba

The Atiku/Okowa ticket has hit more troubles as two former Delta State governors, James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan shunned the inauguration of the party’s campaign council in Asaba last week.

Apart from the former governors, a number of other notable leaders including Senator James Manager and former Commissioner of Finance, David Edevbie who recently lost his bid to be the PDP governorship candidate at the Supreme Court were also absent.

The development came even as Ibori, Uduaghan and the other leaders had their names published few days before the inauguration as members of the council which has Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as chairman and the governorship candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori, as vice.

Their absence at the major party event is fuelling speculations of a brewing cold war between the camp of Okowa who is the vice presidential candidate of PDP and Ibori and his core loyalists including Edevbie and his followers.

The development is not unconnected with the disagreement before the May 25, 2022 governorship primary over the preferred choice for Okowa’s successor in 2023.

Okowa and Ibori failed to reach a consensus with the former throwing the weight of his incumbency behind Oborevwori while Ibori supported Edevbie.

With Oborevwori winning the primary, and the Supreme Court affirming his candidacy, core loyalists of Ibori and supporters of Edevbie are yet to align with the party structure as presently composed.

It has thus led to a shredded political structure with pundits predicting that the campaigns for next year’s elections might be the worst ever for the PDP unless urgent steps are taken to heal the wounds and avoid possible implosion.

A party source is blaming Ibori, saying that he should have given free hands to Okowa to produce the governorship candidate as the incumbent governor, since he (Ibori) had the liberty of hand picking his successor in 2007.

“Despite that fact of Ibori forcing a candidate on the party then, he was consulted in the build up to the 2022 primary. He was asked to bring forward three names for other leaders to consider but he kept on pushing for one person,” the source hinted.

Meanwhile, the campaign council as inaugurated is yet to have a Director General. And investigation revealed that the position was deliberately reserved for a nominee from Ibori who has not put forward a name, leaving the space blank.

In the previous elections, the party had Director General (DG) as the field commander but the 2023 campaigns may not have a commander leading the troops at rallies and campaign grounds in the shape of a DG.

Although some party faithful believe that it is another ingenious move by the Okowa-led party structure to depart from the past, political watchers view the development as counter-productive for the ruling party in the state.

The political observers pointed out that the chairman and vice chairman of the campaign council can only play advisory role while the bulk of the decision making rest with the DG who is ostensibly the head in the organogram of the campaign council.

“Replacing a DG with a coordinator or a mere director in the campaign council has never been the norm of political campaigns in this clime. The PDP should do the needful by naming a DG rather than leaving it blank,” a social commentator, Nick Preyor stated.

Moreover, one of the leaders who also stayed away from the inauguration, Ovuozurie Macaulay, the present Director General of the Warri, Uvwie and Environs Development Agency (WUEDA) is said to have rejected his position in the council.

The former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) was made local government coordinator for Isoko North, and would be answerable to the Delta South senatorial district coordinator.

Sources close to him hinted that he (Macaulay) insisted that he would not stoop low to be a subordinate to someone he considers far too junior in the political arena.

This has placed more hurdles for the party coupled with the perceived irreconcilable political differences between Okowa on one hand and Ibori and Uduaghan, on the other hand.

The former governors are still embittered by the fall out of the party’s primaries where candidates for all elective positions emerged. Uduaghan’s daughter, Orode, lost in the House of Assembly primary for Warri North to the incumbent member, Fred Martins who believed to be Okowa’s loyalist.

On his part, Ibori survived the battle to secure the senatorial ticket for Delta central for a devoted ally, Ighoyota Amori, and the House of Representatives ticket for Ethiope constituency for his daughter, Erhiatake, by the skin of his teeth.

Although Ibori, Uduaghan, Edevbie and others did not make categorical statements rejecting their membership of the campaign council, their seeming silence is putting party faithful on the edge.

Edevbie had congratulated Oborevwori after the Supreme Court ruling, he was also silent on the next move for his enormous supporters with speculations that the Ibori and Edevbie camps are in advanced talks with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege with a view to forming formidable alliance to wrest power from Okowa and his allies.

Already, some members in the camp, including Karo Ilolo, a former commissioner during Okowa’s first term, and Andrew Asawota, a former secretary of the board of the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), have reportedly pitched tent with Omo-Agege, who is also under fire from the volte-face of some high-ranking APC members.

At a recent meeting held after the inauguration of the campaign council, to appreciate his campaign structure and supporters for keeping faith with him, Edevbie still did not point any direction for his loyalists.

Present at the meeting were the DG of his campaign, Clement Ofuani; three former speakers of the state House of Assembly, Peter Onwusanya, Monday Igbuya and Olise Imegwu who is also a former member of the House of Representatives; member representing Ndokwa federal constituency, Ossai N Ossai; and former member of the House of Representatives, Daniel Renenieju for Warri constituency.

Others were Timi Tonye; Doris Mokobia, immediate past SSG, Chiedu Ebie; former commissioners in Okowa’s tenure, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare and Vincent Uduaghan; Dr. Isaac Akpoveta; Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu; Admiral John Kpokpogri (rtd.); Champion Kpateghe, amongst others.

Edevbie described his campaign structure as a team of very reliable politicians who believe in the modernization of Delta State which only qualified development economists like him can make possible.

He told his think tank members, the federal, senatorial, local government coordinators and their ward counterparts, as well as directors in his campaign structure to remain high in the spirit as the struggle has just begun.

The governorship aspirant urged all his teeming supporters to remain united and speak with one voice to enable them get the best from the ongoing political process in the state, saying that the right decision that would benefit everyone and his team would be taken at the appropriate time.

Those who spoke at the meeting, including Ofuani expressed disappointment at the outcome of the Supreme Court which affirmed Oborevwori as candidate, noting however that it did not end the fight for the governorship seat.

Also, national chairman of Delta Unity Group (DUG), PDP pressure group formed to rival Okowa’s Delta Political Vanguard (DPV), Onwusanya thanked Edevbie for providing a platform of hope for the lost sheep, noting that the radical group was committed to his aspiration.

For his part, the running mate to Edevbie, Ossai N. Ossai said the journey has just begun, pointing out that members of DUG were waiting for directives from its leaders to enable them know what next to do.

Others said the PDP in the state was making grievous mistakes which if not corrected, would destroy the party, adding that the Edevbie team remained intact, committed and united like a bunch of brooms that is difficult to break.

They charged their members to avoid the temptation of being used and dumped by the other camp, insisting that they would be waiting for guidance from their leaders.

Regardless, the state chairman of PDP, Kingsley Esiso had while inaugurating the campaign council, said those against Oborevwori’s candidacy would be alive to witness their own political retirement in 2023.

Esiso charged members of the council and entire party faithful to take the campaigns to the units, wards and local governments and avoid the temptation of remaining in Asaba or going to Abuja.

He appealed to aspirants who lost out in the primaries to join hands with the eventual standard bearers in the overall interest of the party.