Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, takes a look at the current moves ahead of next Delta State governorship race.
One issue that has dominated public discourse since 2011 when Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan began his second and final term in office as the governor of Delta State is the issue of which senatorial district should produce his successor in 2015.
And as the date for the next gubernatorial election gradually draws nearer, the discussions on the matter also get more intense. Rumours that some politicians who are not from Delta North Senatorial District are gearing up to throw their hats into the ring of the contest for the governorship seat are also heating up the polity.
Besides, the silence of the leadership of the party on the much-argued existence of a zoning arrangement that ceded the 2015 governorship to Delta North has continued to fan the embers of political agitation within the state.
For instance, the Anioma Agenda, a political pressure group that seeks the emergence of the governor of Delta State in 2015 from the northern Senatorial zone of the state, recently cautioned the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), against denying Delta North the chance to produce Uduaghan’s successor.
The group, in a press statement, jointly signed by its Chairman, Alex Nnamdi Onwudiamu and Secretary Godwin Ossai, said it was aware of what it called desperate moves by an Urhobo group to deny Anioma people their turn to be governor.
“This call became necessary due to current political manoeuvres with reference to a recent parley between Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), which we see as having the capability of creating disaffection among the different federating units in Nigeria with predictable consequences on the polity, peace and unity currently pervading the landscape in Delta State,” the statement read in part.
While urging UPU to exercise restraint in the interest of the Delta State, Anioma Agenda explained that the Anioma people’s strategy to clinch the governorship position of Delta State in 2015, is that of “appeal and persuasion to the conscience of all, hinging primarily on the altar of equity and fairness and backed strongly by the political history of Delta State since its creation in 1991.”
The group added that the “Anioma people will obviously not accept to remain in a state where we do not have equal access to political power, neither are we going to say that in pursuance of our quest for power, that we are willing to engage all and sundry in a needless desperation for power at all costs.
“We are seeking, soliciting and pleading for the support of the Urhobos, Ijaws, Isokos and the Itsekiris, knowing full well that an alliance within Delta State shall achieve for us the desired good and we advise other ethnic nationalities to follow this worthy example which is hinged on equity, justice and fairness. Indeed, we believe equity breeds unity,” Anioma Agenda said.
Similarly, Ndokwa Unite, a political pressure group based in Delta North, also rose from an enlarged meeting and said in a communique signed by Dr. Boniface Opia, Greg Ikoko and Mr. Mathew Emeni, that since the Delta Central and South districts had ruled the state for eight years respectively, any attempt to prevent the emergence of a governor from Delta North will heat up the polity.
The group further stated that it was important that other senatorial districts support the quest of Delta North for the 2015 gubernatorial race, disclosing specifically that the gubernatorial seat should go to Ndokwa ethnic nationality.
But if feelers emanating from various political camps in the state are to be considered strong enough, then the people of Delta North will have to brace up for serious politicking if their dream of producing the next governor is to come to fruition.
This is because numerous politicians from the two other senatorial districts appear to be opposed to the zoning arrangement being canvassed by Delta North. The critics of the arrangement say the contest should be thrown open in order for the best candidate to emerge as governor in the interest of the state.
The National Chairman of Urhobo Political Movement (UPM), who is also Commissioner representing Ughelli North and Ethiope East Local Government Areas on the board of DESOPADEC, Emaye Obiewevre, recently declared that there will be no zoning in Delta State come 2015.
While emphasising that only a credible candidate should be allowed to occupy Government House in 2015, Obiewevre urged Deltans to be wary of politicians with hidden agenda who come to them under the guise of zoning.
“We don’t want somebody who will come to Government House to implement an ethnic agenda. Those aspiring to the governorship under the banner of one ethnic group or the other should be resisted by the people.
“So we must all resolve that in 2015 we will not select our candidate based on tribal line, rather our yardstick for selection of candidate for Government House will be credibility, purposeful leadership and the interest of Deltans,” he said.
Toeing a similar path, the Chairman of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) in the state, Tony Ezeagwu, said zoning does not exist in his political party currently ently and that he was not a party to any arrangement about rotation of political offices within the PDP fold.
“As far I am concerned, if an Anioma man comes to my party to take the governorship form, I will not deny him. And if an Urhobo man comes to take form, I will not deny him either. This is because in my party, there is no zoning arrangement for now. Our party is open for all Deltans.”
But Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, during a consultation visit to him at his residence by leaders of the Anioma Agenda, while reiterating his earlier commitment to peaceful co-existence in the state, applauded the overall developmental programme put in place by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, adding that the existing tripod that led to the emergence of a Delta Central and South indigenes occupying the number one seat of the state should be symbol for promising equity, fairness and justice.
The speaker said there are enough bases for the Aniomas to have a shot at the governorship in 2015. He, however, advised the group to maintain absolute decorum while persuading other senatorial districts who are yet to key into this laudable programme to do so without over heating the polity for the general good of the entire state.
In the opinion of Chief John Ehikwe, former secretary of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Bendel State and the national coordinator, Anioma Awareness Initiative, a group of leading politicians championing the quest for a governor from Delta north, the district is ready to govern the state.
“I want to tell you that Delta North Senatorial District is the most united district in the state. For instance, since we started this question on who is to occupy the Government House come 2015, there has not been anybody who has come to say we do not want to produce the governor. All the groups that came out have been saying that it is our turn,” he said.
But the question remains how far the people of Delta North can go in their quest to be allowed to produce the next governor of a state as multi-ethnic and diverse as Delta? Only time can provide an answer to this question.
