By Festus Ahon
The three major political parties in Delta State have adopted aggressive political strategies as they approach the finishing line in the governorship and House of Assembly elections this weekend.
The parties to reckon with in Delta are the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, All Progressive Congress, APC, and the Labour Party, LP. Accord is also on the fringes and has thrown up candidates for the House of Assembly election in areas where the dominant PDP has issues in places like Ndokwa and Ika areas of the state.

Delta was until lately not seen to be on the radar of the APC. However, the remarkable victory of the party in the presidential election has drawn attention of the party’s national officers towards the state with recent visits by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

However, getting the party to war mood would be a serious challenge given the historic bickering among party leaders especially in the run up to the governorship primaries and the constitution of the state executive. A number of party leaders still vexed by the way Otega Emerhor got the party’s governorship ticket and executive have remained largely lukewarm towards his governorship aspiration.

So as at press time the combined efforts of Tinubu and Buhari towards rousing the party base and generating momentum for an APC victory this weekend could only be a hazardous guess.

The APC, however, has remained unrelenting capitalising on penultimate Saturday’s presidential victory to try to outsmart both the more visible PDP and the entrenched insurgency inspired by Chief Great Ogboru of the Labour Party.

All three governorship candidates, Ogboru of Labour, Emerhor of APC and Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa of the PDP have in recent times been criss-crossing the state in last minute search for votes.

Given the almost solid support he has gotten from his Delta North base, Senator Okowa’s focus has almost been fixed on harvesting more and more votes from his main rivals’ base in Delta Central. Okowa’s support in Delta North was also boosted with the resolution of the Agbor Community to fully back him for the job. The community speaking through the president-general of the Agbor Community, Gen. Nick Agbogun urged the people to queue behind Senator Okowa in “recognition of his towering profile.”

Ogboru who had for the past four or five election cycles been a torment to the PDP is, however, unrelenting. Ogboru is boosted by the support of the influential Urhobo Progress Union, UPU and also by a network of Urhobo achievers in the professions.

Popularly called the Peoples General, the Labour Party candidate is also looking back to a part of Delta North, the Ndowka segment of the senatorial district claiming that he is also from the zone on the basis of his mother’s ancestry from Delta North.

Unqualified support

However, what could have been described as the unqualified support from the Urhobo nation has lately been engulfed in a controversy following the endorsement of Emerhor by a faction of the UPU. The mainstream UPU this week, however, dissociated itself from the endorsement affirming its total support for Ogboru.

In strategies not employed before, the three political parties have also resorted to holding town hall meetings where they are selling their ideas.

The APC and Labour have particularly now taken to the mantra of change asserting that the state is due for change after 16 years of PDP rule, however, the readiness and determination of the two parties to effect such change is largely challenged by the doggedness of the two candidates, Ogboru and Emerhor in not stepping down for the other.