By Chukwudi Nweje
The fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) got a major boost recently ahead of the 2023 general elections as the Ijaw nation in Delta State has pledged to work and deliver the major candidates of the party.
The candidates included among others the PDP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, his vice, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and Sheriff Oborevwori who is the Delta governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming election.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman, Chief Peter Yerindideke Biakpara, said the Ijaw nation unanimously endorsed Oborevwori as its sole gubernatorial candidate at a meeting held at the Effurun residence of the former Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo.
Biakpara said: “We took the decision because we know that the Ijaw agenda, which some of us agitated for through some Ijaw aspirants, would be achieved through supporting Oborevwori as our sole candidate for the 2023 governorship election.
“After the meeting, committees were set up to reconcile some aggrieved persons and Oborevwori as the sole candidate of the Ijaw nation in Delta State.
“Thereafter, the unveiling committee, elders, and political leaders of the Ijaw nation in Delta State paid a consultation visit to all the traditional rulers of Ijaw extraction in the state to inform and appeal to them for blessings to vote for all the PDP candidates.
“In response, HRM Elder (Capt.) Joseph Timiyan, Ebenanaowei of Ogulagha Kingdom and Chairman, Delta Ijaw Traditional Rulers Forum, who spoke on behalf of the monarchs, prayed for the elders and political leaders of the Ijaw nation to succeed in all their endeavors.”
Speaking in the same vein, Dagidi Andaye, said they were resolute in their decision to deliver all PDP candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
The PDP gubernatorial candidate, Oborevwori, in his remarks, promised to reciprocate the Ijaw nation’s support with developmental projects and programmes, if he gets their votes, adding that he was humbled by his adoption as the sole gubernatorial candidate of the Ijaw nation for the 2023 election.