By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
Thursday’s re-run election in Delta State is undoubtedly a referendum on the three and a half year tenure of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan as Governor of the oil rich State. As it is popularly said, actions speak louder than words and so, Dr. Uduaghan’s actions while he was in office between May 2007 and November 2010 would speak louder than any word that the legions of his supporters are saying for him.

Tomorrow’s re-run election followed the annulment of the 2007 general election by the Court of Appeal on November 9,2010.

The annulment immediately brought focus on the actions and achievements of Dr. Uduaghan as governor in the period while he was in office.

Immediately, the election was annulled, Uduaghan’s major traducer, Chief Great Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP who himself instigated the court process that led to the annulment started what could be said to be a fresh campaign.

Up till late November, Ogboru was seen as the major challenger to Uduaghan’s comeback bid. Not many at that time saw the potential of Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, the erstwhile ally of Uduaghan during the Ibori years who served as Executive Assistant to Governor Ibori, Commissioner for Special Duties and lastly, the Secretary to the State Government SSG, in the last days of the Ibori years.

Remarkably, he took over the job of SSG following Uduaghan’s resignation from that position to contest the office of Governor.

Asked during his visit to Vanguard on the prospects of an Omo-Agege’s candidacy, Ogboru had described Omo-Agege as a window-shopper and a tourist among the gubernatorial hopefuls. But beneath the scene, there were indications that Ogboru had sought to prevail on Omo-Agege not to enter the fray on the fact that the latter’s involvement could dilute the force of the opposition against him.

Willy-nilly, Omo-Agege stood his ground and in consultation with political associates genuinely shopped around for a solid legal ground to contest in the re-run election. He soon found it in the Republican Party of Nigeria, RPN whose gubernatorial candidate in the 2007 election Olorogun Felix Azorbo died in 2008 providing him with a valid legal platform to contest the election.

Remarkably, the RPN was able to hold a congress where Omo-Agege was approved as the gubernatorial candidate of the party for the RPN.

Whatever perfection Omo-Agege believed he had done as concerning his candidacy in the re-run election was to come to serious doubt as the running mate of the deceased RPN candidate Mrs. Nkem Madezia challenged what she claimed was Omo-Agege’s usurpation of her right as the legitimate successor to the ticket.

She said, “On November 9,2010, the Court of Appeal in Benin annulled the 2007 election in Delta State. Ovie Omo-Agege, who wanted to take an advantage of the vacuum created by the demise of Olorogun (Felix) Azorbo with whom I had a joint ticket under RPN in the 2007 governorship election.

“Illegal primaries were organised by the party leadership at the national level without any recourse to laid down due process as spelt out in the 2006 Electoral Act and the constitution of RPN,” she said in reference to the primaries that was held to endorse Omo-Agege.

Citing the constitution of the party, she said:

“Article 21, section four of the party’s constitution states that, ‘a member can only be qualified or eligible to contest any election unless that member has been a financial member of the party for at least three months before the date of such election.”

Meanwhile, Ogboru on his part has sought to put the participation of Omo-Agege in the poll as a drawback to the pledge by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC for a free and fair poll.

Besides, he has also sought to play up the commission’s determination to use the 2006 voters register for the polls. Ogboru’s fear is that the register is laden with fictitious names as was allegedly used by one of the parties to rig the last gubernatorial election.

Meanwhile, while the two major gladiators Ogboru and Omo-Agege ponder on their next actions, Uduaghan and his acolytes are allowing his record in office to speak for him. In effect, the election they claim should be a referendum on his performance.

The Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Oma Djebah was effusive in his praise of the PDP candidate noting what he claimed to be his remarkable successes in harvesting notable projects in the less than four years he was at the saddle of affairs.

Among the major infrastructure projects he listed were the Asaba International Airport and construction of several road projects in several areas of the State.

It is, however, remarkable that several aides of the former governor cite the peace among the various ethnic groups in the State as the greatest acheivement of Dr. Uduaghan in three years. The establishment of peace according to Mr. Amaju Pinnick, Chairman of the Delta Sports Commission has enabled the creation of a conducive environment for other development projects to thrive in the State.

Listing the imperative for peace and the efforts of Dr. Uduaghan, Mr. Djebah said:

“Some of these measures include constitution ofa Delta Waterways Security Committee barely 48 hours after assuming office, the empowerment of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOP ADEC, as well as regular and substantial support to the Police and other security agencies operating in the state in terms of communication equipment, mobility and other logistics support.”

“In spite of the general security challenges the country faces, Delta State can boast of being one of the most peaceful states in the country today, a great departure from the past. The peaceful serenity of its towns and cities both day and night has made criminality very marginal just as economic activities have been greatly boosted.”