From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The inauguration of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as the fifth executive governor of Delta State has thrown up issues of entitlement to political appointments among members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Some stakeholders in the party feel that having worked assiduously for its success in the keenly contested March 18, 2023 governorship election, it is time to reap the fruits of their labour by being appointed into the government.
The development has made appointments into the nascent administration very competitive, sparking acts of desperation on the part of lobbyists who have become vulnerable to the antics of scammers.
Already, some desperate appointment seeking politicians have lost money to unscrupulous persons who posed as agents of government from the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief of Staff (CoS) and Chief Press Secretary (CPS).
Our correspondent learned that the suspected fraudsters operated with different phone numbers, purporting to be the SSG, CoS or CPS who could influence appointments from the governor.
Not a few fell prey to the con artists until the governor warned that appointments were not for sale but for those who deserved it based on competence and time tested principles of equity and fairness.
Oborevwori in a statement issued by his CPS, Festus Ahon, stated that the phone numbers being used by the scammers do not belong to the SSG, CoS and the CPS, noting that it was the second time the issue was coming up.
He appealed to security agencies to take the issue seriously before people lose more of their hard-earned money to con artists.
Meanwhile, intense lobbying delayed the names of commissioner-nominees for over six weeks. Most of the lobbyists were however left with the short end of the stick, when the governor unveiled his 26-man list of commissioner-nominees.
But the claim to entitlement to political appointment still persists as disappointed lobbyists vent their spleen on the governor, the party and those considered as close allies who seemed to have betrayed their friendship for selfish interests.
For instance, a party chieftain and former Director General of the state orientation bureau, Mr. Eugene Uzum, resigned from the PDP after his name conspicuously missed out from the proposed cabinet list.
Said to be one of the foot soldiers of the immediate past governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa before 2015, the commissionership position eluded him for eight years during which he was compensated with SA on Orientation before being elevated to DG of the bureau.
Uzum who hails from the same Ika North-East Local Government Area as Okowa, was again promised the position of a commissioner during the last campaigns but was shocked when his name was missing from the 26-man list which had a nominee from his locality.
In his letter of resignation dated July 31, 2023 and addressed to the chairman of PDP Ward 14, Otolokpo, Ika North-East, Uzum humbly thanked the party for offering him the platform to serve.
“While I appreciate the party which availed me the opportunity to serve in consultations, campaigns, primaries, elections, transition, I also profoundly thank Otolokpo PDP and Delta youths for their support and cooperation,” it stated.
Apart from Uzum, there are other party chieftains who appear to be impatient with the nascent administration. They are rather pondering over resignation from the PDP for not being considered in the ‘first eleven’.
Two stalwarts in particular are on the verge of leaving PDP on the grounds that they were ‘used and dumped’. The duo who held key positions in the immediate past administration, are said to be loyal to Oborevwori and Okowa.
They insist that they have been schemed out in the sharing of Ukodo, a local delicacy in Urhobo land, which they partake in its preparation.
Aside from being a local delicacy, Ukodo is Oborevwori’s traditional title in Okpe Kingdom, a title that has popularised the governor’s widely acclaimed street credibility.
However, the fate of another party chieftain, Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, still hangs in the balance, after he was said to have subtly rejected the position of Executive Assistant to the Governor on Communications, a position he held during the Okowa years.
Relying on his over four-decade relationship with the ‘New Sheriff’ in town and the critical role he played in the media department during the campaign, Oghenesivbe had hoped for at least the position of commissioner.
But he lost out, and ostensibly became a victim of high wired politics. The slot for his local government, Ethiope East, it was gathered, was conceded to the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Great Ogboru, to nominate.
Ogboru, though being an arch-rival of PDP candidates since 2003 as main contender under various political parties, rather played the role of a ‘spoiler’ against the 2023 candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ovie Omo-Agege with whom he had an axe to grind.
With Ogboru in the mix, Oghenesivbe was bound to be dropped. But there was consolation as the governor exploited the long standing relationship to personally appeal to him to accept his former position of EA Communications.
According to Oghenesivbe in one of his numerous public statements, he did not reject the governor’s offer but advised that the said EA position should be rotated among the three senatorial districts for equity sake.
He claimed that Oborevwori remains a personal friend who he would always stick out his neck for, adding that he was not paid for the media services he rendered to the PDP and the then candidate during the campaigns as was being insinuated.
“In my candid opinion, the EA Communications position should be zoned to another senatorial district to enable other qualified persons occupy the office, going forward.
“I am willing and available to serve in this administration, but certainly not as EA Communications. Everybody in life pray to make substantial progress in his or her career, and I am also praying to make progress in my political and communication career.
“Governor Oborevwori should count on my unalloyed support, commitment and loyalty as we join hands together to advance Delta, through the instrumentality of the M.O.R.E Agenda.
“I urge the good people of Delta State, to continue to pray for the wellbeing of the governor, and equally give him the necessary support, so as to enable him deliver on his electioneering campaign promises,” Oghenesivbe said.
The pioneer chairman of Coalition for Media Politics and Governance (CMPG), a media pressure group, gave the assurance that he would not defect from the PDP.
“Let me make it abundantly clear that the transmission of leadership in CMPG has nothing to do with rumoured defection. I am not defecting to any political party, not now, not in the near future.
“Yes, there are issues with my delayed appointment, but I am pretty sure it shall be resolved by the grace of God. That lacuna will not make me to defect to another party. I am sure there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
“The governor is a good man, a consummate leader and father to all Deltans. He sees what we cannot see. I believe everything will fall in place, God willing,” Oghenesivbe said.
In the meantime, the governor has called for patience on the part of aggrieved party stakeholders, insisting that no area of the state would be short changed in terms of political appointments in the present dispensation.
Besides, a member of the PDP state executive who pleaded not to be named in print, told our correspondent that all the issues raised by aggrieved chieftains would be adequately and satisfactorily addressed.
He gave the assurance that the party was not in for crisis as a result of appointments, saying that “it is what we always experience each time an administration is taking off in the state.
“But what has made this worse is because our party was not declared winner for the presidential election. A lot of our stakeholders made personal sacrifices during the campaigns for the presidential election.
“You know our state produced the vice presidential candidate in the person of Dr. Okowa. So we were very confident that the election result would go in our favour, and if that had happened, we wouldn’t be talking about issues of appointments at the state level.
“Be that as it may, the governor and the party leadership are working hard to satisfy all those who genuinely worked for the victory of the March 18 election, and in due course, everything will be brought under control.”