•Ibori’s dilemma, why his efforts flopped
•Why Gov Okowa declined to stop Senator Manager, Hon Diden
• Hon Godwin Abigor defends Uduaghan, blames Okowa
By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South
UNTIL the Tuesday, August 28 caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at Presidential Villa, Abuja, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, which many saw the former governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, resplendent in his white agbada and red cap in attendance, quite a number of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, leaders and faithful in the state chose not to believe media reports that he had dumped the party.
To them, it is undreamed of that Dr. Uduaghan, a key member of the Ibori political family, the influential power coalition headed by the former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori that has bestrode the oil-rich state since 1999 would ditch the PDP, at least not after Ibori and other members of the family were said to have intervened.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that Ibori and others actually waded in, but the smaller picture they were seeing was bigger than the larger picture they were not looking at. And that was the picture Uduaghan alluded to in the intrigues that characterized his defection.
It’s regrettable – Oyovbaire
Former Minister of Information, Prof Same Oyovbaire, the political godfather of Delta state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, whose irreconcilable differences with Uduaghan were part of the smaller picture that broke the camel’s back, in a statement hours after Uduaghan’s exit was formally confirmed, said: “It is unfortunate in at least one sense, namely: until now we had been proud to announce that the three governors (2 past), all their deputies, all state chairmen of the PDP (past and present), all founding members of the party like myself, etc. have remained faithful and committed PDP members.”
He, however, added: “But we knew quite early, immediately the Presidency went to APC in early 2015 even before the governorship election, forerunners of the former governor like Chief Ayiri Emami and Chief Egbo Jaro had jumped out of the PDP ship to await, allegedly then, Governor Uduaghan arrival into the APC.”
Oyovbaire confessed: “I do not have all the facts of the governor’s decision to abandon the party that literally made him the politician of note,” adding: “He is entitled to his constitutional right and freedom to move into and out of any organization. Yet it demonstrates one more of the multiple illustrations of the crass poverty, fear of being hunted and sheer opportunism in Nigerian politics and democracy.”
Request respectfully denied
Findings showed that Uduaghan’s exit is a very big blow to the party, but it is not for lack of trying by Ibori. Even in confinement in London, Ibori was able to settle a much more knotty problem, which is Okowa’s candidature for the 2015 gubernatorial election. It was, therefore, strange to the family that in spite of his physical presence, the Okowa/Uduaghan embarrassing situation finally ruptured.
Indeed, Ibori’s penetrating appeals to Governor Okowa, who has not only fully taken charge of the party in the state, but also emerged as a very strong force in the party at the national level, to clear the coast for his predecessor’s senatorial quest were courteously rebuffed.
Okowa had reasons to act the way he did – PDP chieftain
A PDP leader, who is familiar with the matter, told Saturday Vanguard: “Governor Okowa had his reasons for rejecting the request. For clarity, you know that Uduaghan did not support Okowa until after Okowa won the governorship primary in 2015. So, there was no love lost between them, but after the Ibori family, which I am not part of prevailed on Okowa to pay Uduaghan his allowances allegedly withheld for more than three years, they also wanted him to prevail on Senator James Manager, a member of the Ibori family, representing Edo South senatorial district to see reason another person should represent the zone after he would have done three terms.
“Not only Manager, they also want Okowa to prevail on Hon Michael Diden, aka Ejele, representing Warri North constituency in Delta State House of Assembly, who is also eyeing the Delta South senatorial seat to defer to his former boss, Uduaghan. However, Okowa’s position is that Dr. Uduaghan should negotiate with Senator Manager and Hon Diden, rather than anybody compelling them to step down for him,” the source said. However, we gathered that it was not about asking an interested party or candidate to step down but the indifference of Okowa to Udaughan’s senatorial interest. Uduaghan, we gathered, felt that it was not necessary if he did not get the support of the governor. He had been a governor and knows that winning party ticket may not happen without the support of the governor. Okowa was said not to be disposed to any such cooperation.
What Manager, Diden did for Okowa
According to the leader, “Senator Manager played a significant role in Okowa getting the endorsement of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the PDP governorship ticket in 2015. He (Senator Manager) was in Aso Villa where another candidate was brought to swap him. He not only challenged the plot, but put a call to him (Okowa) to come to Abuja with the next available flight. When he landed, he took him straight to Jonathan to iron things out.”
“That meeting with Jonathan sealed Okowa’s ticket in 2015 though Ibori’s directive to the family to deliver Okowa was what swung the pendulum for him. It was Ibori’s final position on the matter that made Uduaghan to also drop his opposition to Okowa, and he admirably led the campaign for Okowa’s emergence as governor,”
He added: “Diden also played a critical role; he dumped Uduaghan, who basically made him politically for Okowa when the former decided to support another candidate against Okowa in the 2015 governorship primary. He not only campaigned for Okowa, he contributed financially.”
“So tell me if it will not be politically stupid for Okowa to ask either Senator Manager or Hon Diden to step down for Uduaghan. The best he can do is to tell Uduaghan and this is out of respect to him, as his predecessor, to dialogue with the two aspirants himself and if they agree to step down for him, that is that,” the party leader, who said he stood with Okowa on the matter, confided in Saturday Vanguard.
Ibori’s dilemma
It was gathered that this is where Ibori’s difficulty in untangling the feud lay. Since Okowa made his position clear to those who approached him, a source said the job of getting Senator Manager and Hon Diden to step down for Uduaghan was diplomatically shifted to the leader (Ibori).
But before Ibori would broach the matter, Senator Manager, who got wind of the game plan, stated emphatically that nobody should approach him with such a request, as he would not accept it. He advised anybody interested in contesting the position with him to meet him in the field.
On his part, Hon Diden boasted that he would defeat both Uduaghan and Manager in the Delta South senatorial primary and nobody should talk to him about stepping aside for any of them. With Uduaghan moving to APC, Diden strongly believes that the job of defeating Senator Manager in the primary has been made easier for him.
“With the hard-line posture of Senator Manager, who had since kick-started his fifth-term campaign and Hon Ejele, it was easier said than done for Ibori to get them to change their standpoints.
Abigor neutralizes allegations against Uduaghan
An Uduaghan loyalist and former member of the Delta House of Assembly, Hon Godwin Abigor, an Uduaghan loyalist, said: “Some people just speak from one side without looking at the other. Is it not Uduaghan that appointed Okowa as Secretary to the State Government, SSG, when he was governor? Is not the same Uduaghan that asked him to go the Senate and told former President Goodluck Jonathan when he told him about Mrs Mariam Ali that he was already committed to Okowa? Was Okowa there when he sealed the deal for him? After President Buhari won there were fears of bandwagon effect. Who put in extra effort to make sure Okowa did not have problem?
“In party politics, people are free to support the aspirants of their choice during the primary, but after the primary, you collapse every other structure and work to deliver the party’s candidate. That was what happened in 2015. Did Uduaghan not collapse every other structure to deliver Okowa in 2015, why is he persecuting him and his supporters?
“Let me tell you, Uduaghan’s allowances were not paid for over three years, he could not have a voice or pick the chairman in his own local government area, Warri North. Just to sidetrack Uduaghan, in the last National Convention of PDP, which Okowa was the Chairman of the Planning Committee, he said former governors would not be automatic delegates and that was what happened. Yet, former speakers, former deputy speakers were automatic delegates. Uduaghan did not take part in that convention because he was not made a delegate by Okowa.
“It was not Uduaghan that left PDP by himself, Okowa systematically removed him from the party, and he does not have any influence over the constitution of the party executive, both in his local government and state level. So somebody that has been sidelined, relegated and stopped from taking his position as a leader in the state, what do you expect from him,” he said.
No emotion, it is Itekiri turn
Hon Abigor asserted that those applying sentiment on the issue of Senator Manager and Delta South senatorial ticket were being myopic, as the senatorial district comprises three ethnic tribes, Isoko, Itsekiri and Ijaw, whose political leaders agreed on rotation of the senatorial seat.
His words: “The arrangement among the leaders of the three tribes is that they will take turns in going to the Senate. Senator Stella Omu was there in the first tenure of Obasanjo and after her, the Itsekiri and Ijaw gathered together and said Isoko had taken their turn, let it go to Ijaw and that was how Senator Manager was massively supported by the three ethnic groups.”
“After eight years, another Isoko man even wanted to go, Uduaghan was governor then, and he still supported Manager against Chief Solomon Ogba from Isoko. Now it became the turn of the Itsekiri tribe, in 2015. Uduaghan was to go, but there was this massive defection from PDP and it was clear that APC had gained a lot of grounds. He said he would forgo his interest and face the bigger challenge of how to deliver the party at the national level.
“After the primary, he supported Okowa, he supported Manager and both of them won. After 16 years of Senator Manager holding to a position that is supposed to be rotated among three tribes, it is obviously the turn of Itsekiri, so why should people be applying sentiment in saying that Manager can go for another four years? Are we saying that Ijaw should hold it for 20 years? That is the issue,” he said.
Uduaghan’s masterstroke
For those who thought they had hemmed in Uduaghan with the complex bearings, the Warri-North born politician went for his Plan B, which is the bigger picture that was overlooked. He unveiled the strategy which he tagged, “Moving On To the Bigger Playing Field” hours after the Tuesday caucus meeting.
He said: The toughest challenge for any leader in the Niger Delta since 1997 has been the issue of Peace and Security. For over 12 years, I was deeply involved in the management of the issues of the region, first as Secretary to State Government, SSG, and then as Governor of Delta State for 8 years. Strategically, we had ENGAGEMENT as our major tool. This involved government officials, with me in the forefront (sometimes personally going into the creeks without security at nocturnal hours), community leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders, our youths, retired military officers, activists, etc. Of course, ensuring that Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, was active was also part of the engagement process.”
Encouraging Interests, Activities
“Since the inception of the current All Progressives Congress, APC, administration at the federal level, there has been an encouraging interest and activities by President Muhammadu Buhari to bring a permanent solution to the Niger Delta crisis. This has pointed in a direction that is at once progressive and developmental. Topmost in these activities are the ENGAGEMENT PROCESSES.
“ Rather than using the military to harass our people, the Buhari administration has embarked on various engagement processes that have led to agreements and brought hope to the people of the Niger Delta. In the last years, Mr. President has personally engaged several regional leaders and youths. Senior officials of his administration also engaged many Niger Delta leaders and youths. Very significant is that Mr. President mandated the Vice President Prof Yemi Osibajo SAN, to visit virtually all the oil producing states, engaging various stakeholders. This is unprecedented in the history of the region.
“Such engagement processes have brought some measure of peace in the Niger Delta. Things can only get better. Beyond the engagement processes, however, the Buhari administration has embarked on some infrastructural and human capital development activities in the region. In Delta State, the opening of a Maritime University; the setting up of a steering committee for the EPZ (GAS CITY), the plan for a deep sea port, the dredging of the Escravos-Warri River; the opening of the railway line to Delta Steel Company, the soon to be flagged off, by Mr. President, the Omadino-Escravos Road that will pass through many riverine communities; the various road construction works by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the various TCN projects across the State are some of the positive activities in the region.
There are also various human capital development programmes especially the school feeding and the “social security net” that is making 5,000 Naira available to the poor, the continuation of the You Win programme, the various SME programmes, and several other projects across the region have brought hope to the people.
Indeed, once Mr. President was able to set his priorities pursuant to creating an environment for peace in the region, it became incumbent on every well-meaning Niger Deltan and Nigerian to assist the process of building an economically prosperous nation. In this era of partisan politics,
“In this era of partisan politics, it is necessary for the people of the Niger Delta, and Delta State in particular, to identify more with the Federal Government led by the APC. By so doing, we can push some of the agreements between our leaders and the Federal Government through, and also engage the government to do more. Politics is about interests.
The Niger Delta is a major area of interest for me, because I staked my life going into the creeks severally without security and sometimes coming back at night negotiating peace.”
“I will, therefore, give the strongest support to any President that shows commitment in the affairs of the Niger Delta.
I call on, and enjoin, other well-meaning leaders in the region, who have very useful contributions to make, to come on board and join hands in helping this Federal Government to pursue a robust development agenda that would uplift our people. Whatever milestone that appears not to have been achieved yet is not for lack of efforts. Joining hands with and supporting the process will lead to a faster delivery on expectations,” he said.
