The Commissioner, Oil and Gas, Delta State, and Chairman, Media, and Publicity Committee, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Campaign Council, Prince Emmanuel Ambadugba, has dismissed the strong rumors that the All Progressives Congress, APC, Governorship Candidate, Senator Omo-Agege, would run off with the former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, from the PDP, Delta State.
Amgbaduba, in a conversation with Saturday Vanguard, during the week, at Asaba, pointed out that Ibori is not a sword of the state that anybody can snatch adding that he remains a national leader of PDP, and his daughter is running for the House of Representatives seat in his Ethiope federal constituency on the party’s platform.
Maintaining that the governor, and vice-presidential candidate of PDP, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, is a prudent financial manager; and the governorship candidate, Sheriff Oborevwori, a unifier that is ready to work, he put in plain words why Nigerians should not just remove APC, but kick the party out with their Permanent Voter’s Card, in the forthcoming presidential polls.
Excerpts:
At what velocity is the PDP campaign for governor in the state now?
We are giving you a candidate that has managed the state House of Assembly, which makes up the different constituencies and a mirror-image of the state, and Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has managed this House going up to almost eight years with no rancor. In some states, you get about four to five Speakers before the tenure runs out; it tells you he understands the system; and can manage.
People said he has street capability; yes, I will classify street credibility as a positive thing. When you know what the people want, you feel the pain, and you are part of the people, you gear them into your management technique, and when you do that, you procreate your decisions. Once you procreate your decisions, you carry everybody along and you have the best government for the people. In addition, the people will enjoy the benefit.
Therefore, we are presenting somebody who has told the people that my governor has done very well but I am going to do MORE. By MORE, he means Meaningful development, Opportunity for all Deltans; Realistic Reforms, and Enhanced Peace and Security. You understand when one says that he will enhance security, which means he is going to go above the expected standards. With a candidate of that nature, who is a unifier, the sky is the starting point.
From findings on the campaign field, Sheriff has a peculiar appeal and crowd-pulling power more than former PDP governorship candidates, I mean ex-governor, Chief James Ibori, his successor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and even the current governor, Senator Okowa.
How was he able to do this and why has it been so impossible for PDP to get Ibori to join this movement of the party in the state?
The PDP as you know is a very broad church and we have everything under that umbrella. When people see the genuineness and warmth coming from Sheriff, the things that I have spoken about before, you have nothing but to draw yourself closer to him. The aged, male, female, and youth, in fact, he is a rainbow man; a real unifier, and that is why you are getting different people coming towards him.
Our national leader, Ibori, is a strong supporter of PDP and people keep insinuating that he is not there that he is negative; he is not. Do not forget that his daughter is running under the PDP in the Federal House of Representatives in his constituency. His daughter has the ticket of the party, she has been going around campaigning, and we are all campaigning for her. Our campaign kicked off from Patani and not too long, later on, we went to Oghara, Ibori’s hometown, it was a sea of heads.
So many people trooped in, Ibori was not there, but as you know, silence is consent. In Ibori’s silence, people think he is not supporting us, he is in support, and I am sure that at the right time when he has the opportunity or when he is free, he would come in. Apart from politics, people have to do other things in terms of work to survive, and you cannot leave Ibori out, he may have his own business that he is doing or probably other engagements. However, he has displayed no negative tendency either verbal or non-verbal towards the PDP or the candidacy of Sheriff Oborevwori.
Ibori’s absence, especially during the presidential rally of PDP in Asaba, the state capital, sent quite a negative signal, did you feel it?
You know perception is something that you cannot change. If that is your perception, I will tell you not to worry about it. His foot soldiers and people were there, the way politics work; if you cannot eat it, do not put it in your mouth, he would tell his people not to be there. When I know my principal would not like something, I will not be there, but they are always there in their numbers, therefore, I do not think it is right to hold that perception.
But there is a concern, call it fear by the PDP, that APC, through the governorship candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, may snatch Ibori from your party, or do you call that propaganda?
What is propaganda? Ibori is going nowhere, what will Omo-Agege use to snatch him, he is not a mace, and you cannot grab Ibori. They have nothing to campaign about, he (Omo-Agege) has done everything right for his village and Delta is not a village thing. You cannot bring a university to your village, not just your village, to your quarter; and you bring another development, not to your village alone, but to your quarter. We are not talking about that. We are talking about somebody who is a pan-Deltan with a broad mind, when he goes out, he does not see the state as Anioma or Urhobo. Somebody that is detribalized that is who we are talking about.
While Ibori is silent as you observed, we hear Uduaghan has brought an upbeat mood into the Oborevwori governorship campaign and playing a leadership role. What is really happening with his comeback?
You know that our leader, the former governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, at a time left the party and tasted the negativities of the opposition. He is an upright man, because it is only an upright man that would say that I did this, it was not right, that decision of mine is wrong, I need to retrace my step. Because he has a backbone, he knows what is right and wrong; he came back to the party and Dr. Uduaghan is not somebody who takes things half-hearted, whatever he wants to do, he puts in his very best. As our leader from Delta South senatorial district, my boss, what do you expect; he has to put in everything to ensure the party is cohesive and strong for the next election.
That is why you are seeing all the reconciliatory efforts that he has been making to unify the party, not just in Delta South but also across the three senatorial districts, and he is making waves and I welcome it. I am sure you understand when I say Uduaghan brings a lot to the table, which is just the truth. He spends his own money and time to put up intellectual arguments that will make us take decisions that will push the PDP to the next level in the state.
Where is Senator James Manager after the governorship primary?
I was at a time the chairman of PDP in Delta South senatorial district and I presided over meetings where Uduaghan, James Manager, and others were in attendance, so I know them. Apart from being a dogged party man, he has also been with us. Not too long ago, our principal, Oborevwori, visited Manager at his house. The way he welcomed him, everybody was shocked, so nothing is going on, they have some other engagements. Do not forget that Manager just ran for the governorship of the state through the primaries and he went to all the nooks and crannies of the state in the name of campaign, he needs to relax and recoup. He is a human being like you and I. However, as you can see, his foot soldiers are there and since they are there, he is there. Again, we are yet to get to his local government area; we have not gone to Bomadi local government area; you know we do the campaign at the local government level; I trust he will be there. We have his blessings; we have his support, and he is doing well.
The Deputy Governor, Deacon Kingsley Otuaro, is one governorship aspirant that did not allow his loss in the governorship primary to weigh him down in any manner as he quickly gathered himself and went about his normal and state duties. Is he cooperating in the Oborevwori campaign?
Do not forget that Otuaro’s emergence as deputy governor was because of his joint ticket with Okowa, and when Okowa metamorphosed into the vice-presidential candidate, it means that as deputy governor he has to sit up and cover up for his boss. Therefore, at the beginning of the governorship campaign, you may think he was not there; he was because all his people were there. At some point, people would look at me and classify me as an Otuaro man. I can categorically tell you he has to cover up for his boss. If his boss is engaged in national matters, somebody has to be in the saddle, so when the responsibilities became reduced, he came out in full and you have seen him go from one place to the other. If he has another assignment on behalf of the state, he would not be there because his boss is someone he respects so much and has shown support.
There has never been, even in social media, any disagreement between Otuaro and his boss, he is a very loyal deputy governor, an eloquent speaker, and somebody who believes in due diligence in his work. There was no time Otuaro backed out of PDP. Otuaro is someone who understands from the beginning that at the primaries, they allow you to pull your muscles the way you want to pull them, but once the primaries are over, the party comes together. He understood all that and worked around that principle, which is why you are seeing him in all the campaigns of his boss, Senator Okowa, if he does not have other assignments for him”.
Source; Vanguard News
