By Alex Mordi

Widows from Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State have reiterated that Mr. Leonard Esegbue a Fmr. Commissioner is the only leader that has demonstrated genuine concern about the welfare of widows, orphans and the underprivileged ones within the Local Government Area and advanced that as the only reason they usually cast their votes for the PDP which is the party he belongs to. Anybody trying to disrobe him of his leadership status is only fighting against God and trying to abort an already born child, which is impossible.

Speaking on behalf of the widows in Obiaruku, Mrs. Juliet Esumobi said, “the truth is not something that anybody can bury because the more you try to bury it, you will notice that it would keep resurrecting.  Leo Esegbue is a globally known industrialist who has distinguished himself in the industrial sector of our economy.

“This is a man who has created several direct and indirect employment opportunities to thousands of Nigerians.

“He came into politics out of pity for us in search of a platform to serve and transform our lives and the environment of our people for good.

“It was the entry of Leo Esegbue into the PDP in 2001 that improved the fortunes of the party which came a very distant third in the 1999 general election next to Alliance for democracy (AD) and the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) which was the leading party in the Local Government Area. Who knows PDP in Ukwuani LGA if not for Leo Esegbue who popularized the party with three different currencies:

“Firstly, he spent so much money to advertise the party, then secondly, he flooded the entire LGA with customized Vote PDP branded cosmetics products, and thirdly, he lavished his tremendous goodwill across the LGA to win converts for the party.

“Leo Esegbue is a very compassionate philanthropist who has set several political records yet to be broken within the very short periods they have allowed him to participate in governance process.

“When he was appointed as a secretary to the local government a few months to Fmr. Gov. Ibori’s re-election in 2003, droves of people left their parties to join PDP because of him. From the day he was sworn into office, he donated his salaries and allowance to the widows and always came to rescue each time we were oppressed and had cause to bite our fingers in remembrance of our late husbands. After some time, he resigned from office because he couldn’t stand seeing the level of suffering and pains our people were passing through and his suggestions to ameliorate and address the problems were opposed by the political elites of the LGA.

“We had to go and beg him to come and contest for the office of the council Chairman in 2007 which he reluctantly accepted. On the day of the supposed primaries, we, our children and sympathizers were under the sun from morning till night to enable us cast our votes for a man that have proven  to be our Messiah only to be told to go home that somebody have been anointed for the position from above.

“In 2010, Fmr. Gov. Uduaghan’s election was nullified by the Court of Appeal, surprisingly, a few days to the Governorship rerun election, he was appointed as a Commissioner. His appointment changed the mindset of many people who were determined to vote against PDP. In fact, in that election, all the PDP Gladiators/Leaders lost their wards and polling units to the opposition except Leo Esegbue who was then few days old as a Commissioner.

“What was on the lips of the electorates especially the aged and illiterate ones on the polling day was that the electoral officers should show them Esegbue’s party symbol which has the umbrella for them to vote for him. He was not the one contesting but he had directed that the votes that would have been given to him, if he was contesting should be given to the PDP Candidates. That was how PDP was saved from very serious defeat margin. Undoubtedly, he has a track record of performance and delivery of his candidates in every election because he has tremendous goodwill and had been able to earn the trust of the people.”

Speaking in the same vain, another widow, Mrs. Eucharia Ossai while displaying video clips on her cell phone to journalists, said, “can you see the crowd of thousands of people in Esegbue’s compound on the governorship and house of assembly election day, who lined up in the queue collecting different types of customized souvenirs especially cosmetics branded in the party and our governor’s name begging for votes so that the party would win.

“There is no leader in this LGA that can boast of attracting such crowd in their compound not to talk of sacrificing a dime towards the party’s electoral victory. His contribution is not just in our LGA but across the entire state to improve the party’s electoral chances. It’s Esegbue that has made us and Deltans know and rub Ibori, Uduaghan and Okowa cream amongst other toiletries.

“To the best of our knowledge, he has not been empowered with any meaningful thing to justify or compensate him for his enormous contributions towards the party’s successes. This is very painful, somebody else would work and when victory is achieved, the person would be shut out for others who contributed nothing to take the glory and benefits. There is God…o.! No problem. Let them continue. Where were these emergency leaders and their relatives when the battle/struggle to put the government in place was going on?

“He is our leader and the only reason we are not only voting but also mobilizing the electorates to vote for PDP with the expectation that if the Party wins, we would benefit through him. Information reaching us is that certain persons are trying to submerge the leadership status God in His benevolence has given to him.

“The truth remains that Leo is the first and only person from Ukwuani LGA ward two, that has taken oath of office as a Commissioner and even if a new one is appointed today, that person still remains his junior in ranking. We are talking about a man who has not recovered up to 5% of what he has invested in PDP.

“Do you know how many valuable properties/assets he has lost in his quest to make sure PDP-led government is put in place in Delta State? The successes of PDP in Ukwuani LGA and Delta State would never be complete without the mention of his name, but we have left everything in the hands of God Almighty. In fact, presently, we are in a mourning mood because he just lost his mother who happened to be our mother in the LGA.”

Also speaking, another widow, Mrs. Josephine Esumba, in tears said, “we are disappointed in PDP. This injustice is not only on Esegbue but also to the majority of people that voted for PDP because of him. Anyway, its only God that would reward him not man, but as far as we are concerned, he is the only leader we know.

“In an election where all the so called leaders failed woefully, he was able to stand out victoriously with an excellent result. Such outstanding achievement is supposed to raise his political level of visibility, but instead, once they used him to win elections and assumed offices, they replaced him with their relations and we voted for them because of him.

“Finally we are grateful to a few of the leaders who stood out for the truth and washed off their hands  from the injustice being done to Esegbue.”

Alex Mordi writes from Delta State