BY EMMA AMAIZE
IF there is any political party that the just concluded primaries for  for the April general elections has dealt an unkind blow in Delta State, it is the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.  At the moment, the battle for the soul of the state is not just between it and its newfound  challenger, the  Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, marshalled by Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru, and his armies, but also against aggrieved PDP members on the other side. This is the paradox.

Beginning with the governorship primary, which ticket was won by the incumbent, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, a parallel PDP faction, led by former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark picked Professor (Major) Saliba Mukoro (rtd)  as its gubernatorial flag bearer. Both  Uduaghan and Mukoro obtained, filled and submitted nomination forms to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the April elections on the platform of the PDP.

The Republican Party of Nigeria, RPN, gubernatorial candidate in the last Januray rerun, Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, who dumped the PDP previously as a result of  internal strife had, rather than return to PDP pitched tent with the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and so also, the new state chairman of the party, Chief Adolor Okotie –Eboh, who also abandoned the PDP to fight the party.

With its impressive showing in the January 6 rerun, particularly in Delta Central Senatorial District, where it won seven of the eight local government areas,  inroad in  Delta North Senatorial District, where it also won two local government areas and one in the Delta South Senatorial District, there has been great re_alignment of forces towards the DPP in the state in recent times.

While the ACN also passed through its own crucibles as a result of the primaries, it is not considered a potent threat to the PDP as the DPP. In fact, the ranking of its gubernatorial candidate, who has teamed up with one of the PDP gubernatorial aspirants, Chief John Kpokpogri  dimmed after his poor performance in the rerun on RPN platform. The magic  ACN would perform with Kpokpogri as Omo-Agege’s running mate in the April election remains to be seen.

Even with Uduaghan’s up-to-the-minute success, which gives him an edge over Ogboru,  many think the April general election would be a close call between the duo, but the die-hard Uduaghans believe that no matter how,  he would run away with victory. But as if to say that one man’s meat is another man’s poison,  Ogboru and his people have drawn the battle line once again by returning to the court, saying, they don’t believe it’s God that made Uduaghan to triumph on January 6 as the governor has claimed.

Besides the gubernatorial challenge facing the PDP, what is threatening the very fabric of its existence is what can be described as the mass exodus of its members who lost in the primaries or who felt marginalized in the scheme of things to other parties.

State Chairman of the party, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi told Vanguard in an interview that the Electoral panel that was deployed from Abuja to conduct the House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate primaries in the state was on a mission to destroy the state. And from the facts on ground, no primaries have left the PDP as divided and polarized in Delta like what was done this year.

Across the three senatorial districts, the PDP is going to have its toughest battle in Delta Central Senatorial District, which is the home base of Chief Ogboru. For the Senate seat, the former Deputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Chief Pius Ewherido, until lately a PDP member, is the DPP senatorial flag_bearer. The incumbent Senator, who is representing the district, Prof Adego Eferakeya got to the position on PDP platform, but he is now the ACN standard bearer. The ANPP senatorial candidate for Delta Central, Ambassador (Mrs.) Elizabeth Ogbon_Day was until her defection to the party, a staunch member of the PDP and one of the special advisers to Governor Uduaghan.

Chief Charles Obule, who dumped the PDP after the Ogwashi-Uku gubernatoiral primaries in 2006 for the former returned to the PDP after leaving Chief Peter Okocha at the eleventh hour to work for Dr. Uduaghan’s emergence as governor. He has again allegedly abandoned the PDP for the Justice Party, JP, and is presently the party’s senatorial flag bearer for the Delta Central Senatorial District.

The quartet and others on the fringe are set for battle with the PDP senatorial flag_bearer for the district, Chief Ighoyota Amori, a political tactician and national chairman of the Urhobo Political Forum, UPF. With former governor, Chief James Ibori in “political cooler” at the moment, Amori could be described as the leading Urhobo politician in the mainstream party. But as it is, the political titan is fighting for a senatorial ticket with his stalwarts

If things were equal, Prof Eferakeya should be seeking Amori’s blessings to clinch the senatorial ticket. Chief Omo-Agege who is speculated to have used his closeness to Ibori to swing the senatorial ticket for him was  the consensus Urhobo gubernatorial candidate that the powerful Amori’s UPF adopted in a mock election for the PDP gubernatorial primaries at Ogwashi_Uku in 2006. Ewherhido participated in the same mock primary but lost out.

Today, they are squared up against their “master”. Ewherido distanced himself from the Uduaghan government since the latter became governor in 2007 despite overtures made to him and he took his time to join forces with Ogboru, last year. The battle for the Delta Central Senatorial seat this time around is actually between him and Chief Amori.

It will be no less dramatic in the House of Representatives and House of Assembly elections where some of the PDP lawmakers lost their tickets and subsequently pitched tent with either  the ACN or DPP. For instance, Hon Abel Oshevire, representing Ughelli North II Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly is no longer in PDP  where he broke his political teeth and rose from the ranks as media adviser to Ibori.

Surprisingly, other lawmakers like Hon Harvest Igben and Hon Friday Onodjae, who were all part of PDP, even up till last month, have now joined the ACN and are contesting against new flag bearers from their former party. A former Commissioner of Education in the state and PDP leader, Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu is contesting the Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie House of Representatives seat on the platform of the Labour Party. A clergyman and  former member of the Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Rev Duke Akpososo is also gunning for the Udu House of Assembly seat on the platform of the National Transformation Party, NTP, after he was denied ticket by the PDP.

In all, it is a case of PDP fighting PDP and that is the texture of the game in the entire state. The DPP came into the picture only with its laudable outing in January 6 rerun.

In Delta South senatorial district, where the rumble is also audible enough, Senator James Manager from the Ijaw axis clinched the ticket against political permutation that the ticket would go to an Isoko man. A former Commissioner for Sports in the state, Chief Solomon Ogba fought frantically for the ticket but Senator Manager got it for the third time consecutively.  The ACN is parading a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Temi Harriman, a lady who showcased political fiber when she stood out as the lone opponent of third term from the state in the House of Representatives during the third term saga in 2006.

However, former National President of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Dr. Chris Ekiyor, who, many thought, would pick up the PDP House of Representatives ticket for Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency in Delta South Senatorial District, left, before the party’s primaries, for the ACN,  when he read the handwriting on the wall. He will be slugging it out with the incumbent representative, Hon Nicholas Mutu of the PDP.

In Delta North Senatorial District, the former Secretary to the Delta State Government, Dr, Ifeanyi  Okowa who passed through the needle’s eye to pick the ticket is up against a former PDP chieftain, Chief Ned Nwoko, who is contesting against him on the platform of the DPP. Nwoko who lost out in the power equilibrium of the PDP in the senatorial district is the anointed candidate of Chief E.K Clark for the district. Okowa literally fought the forces of Chief (Mrs.) Ali, the wife of the former national chairman of the party to a standstill before he was able to grab the ticket. Like in other senatorial districts, an erstwhile PDP chieftain, Ifeanyichukwu Onwukamike is the ACN senatorial candidate in Delta North.

However, two_time Senator, Chief Patrick Osakwe, also of the PDP, but elected to the position on the platform of Accord Party, AP, due to in_house wrangling, is not in the race this time around. The AP’s Delta North senatorial candidate is Mr.  Ifeanyi Nwachukwu. Looking at the race critically, it is Dr. Okowa against Chief Nwoko with Okowa likely to carry the day going by current rating.

As it is in the Senate, PDP aspirants who felt marginalized in the House of Representatives and House of Assembly primaries in the district have defected to other political parties.

State chairman of the PDP, Chief Nwaboshi acknowledged in a recent interview that a lot of people were aggrieved in the party because of the recent primaries, but said the party leadership would move in to douse the tension and was hopeful that the angry persons, who knew that he stood against the same forces during the primaries would listen to him in the interest of the party.

Vanguard  learnt that Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, who is  concerned by the implosion in the state was leading an underground move to reconcile the warring factions. It is to be seen the harvest his trouble-shooting efforts will bring.