As Uduaghan battles Manager for Delta South

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

Senatorial candidates for Delta South and Delta Central senatorial districts have intensified their campaigns ahead the February elections, assuring electorates of what they would do if they were elected.

One of the top contenders for Delta South, Senator James Manager who currently represents the senatorial district in the senate is contesting on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Senator Manager is a ranking senator and of the Ijaw extraction who has been in the senate since 2003. Some sections of the senatorial district have argued that he should have stepped aside for other ethnic groups in the district. Nevertheless his support base is swelling by the day.

Chief Great Ogboru, APC Delta State Guber Candidate (left) and Senator James Manager, (right) at the Osubi Airport to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan who is the immediate past governor of the state is also contesting the same senatorial district with James Manager. Uduaghan was a founding member of the PDP until he crossed over to the All Progressives Congress, APC, recently where he clinched the senatorial ticket of the party. He is one of the top contenders and a notable leader of the APC in the state.

Though a relatively new entrant in the APC, Uduaghan has made good in roads into the various structures of the party in the state and at the national level.

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Having won governorship elections in the state about three times including rerun election it is believed that he has good following at the grassroots level in his senatorial district.

Interestingly, while some Ijaw have been openly campaigning for Uduaghan it is a similar story in Itsekiri areas for Senator Manager. Vanguard gathered that the contestants have made friends across the state overtime by virtue of the offices they have occupied at one time or the other.

Another contestant for the senatorial district, Rita Begho, a lawyer is the candidate of the Social Democratic Party. She was returned unopposed at the senatorial primary elections of the party in Warri. Like other candidates, she has also intensified her campaigns, flooding the senatorial districts with her bill boards and posters.

She has also taken her campaign to the doorsteps of women and several communities unveiling her programme of better welfare and enhanced development for the senatorial district. She was on the board of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal commission (RMAFC) as a commissioner and also worked as legal contract officer for technology transfer to developing countries at the UN office in Vienna, Austria.

Former Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA and Action Democratic Party, ADP candidate for Delta South senatorial district, Mr Temisan Omatseye is also optimistic of victory.

He said he was not intimidated by the big political parties, stressing that the electorates this time around had resolved to vote beyond party lines. According to him, the electorates had vowed not to be swayed by money, adding that they were impressed with his track record in public service.

He said when elected he would be transparent in the budgetary provisions of his constituency projects “I assure that constituency project will be transparent. I am with ADP, my chances are very bright, the electorates are not looking at political parties but the individuals. In the past it was carry go (no election) but it is no longer like that “, he said. He added that he would among other things push for a Coast Guard bill when elected which will create jobs for youths in the Niger Delta region.

In Delta Central senatorial district the battle for who represents the district is largely among the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Evlyn Oboroh, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress and Dr Ovie Ugwhanogho of the Social Democratic Party, SDP.

Chief Oboroh shocked most political observers in the state when she emerged senatorial candidate of her party, PDP, beating former Senator Ighoyota Amori. She was a former councilor in Uvwie Local Government Area, Chairman of the local government and currently the member representing Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie federal constituency in the House of Representatives.

Dr Ughwanogho, who had a thriving medical career in the United states of America, has been mobilizing grassroots support for his aspiration in Urhobo communities. He is also reputed to be passionate about development of Urhobo areas.