The Delta Governorship Race: Like A Twisted Mangled Thing

They first came as speculative information. Then, it took on solid forms and before long, it was settled: Longtime political godfather of Delta State, since 1999, former Governor James Ibori, had been dethroned in a succession contest with current Governor and PDP VP candidate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, a former senator. While it lasted, Ibori was seen as the undisputed leader of the party, having chosen his successor Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan and Uduaghan’s successor, the current governor Dr Okowa.

Ibori, called Odidigborigbo by his followers, showed how powerful he was during the PDP primaries for governor in 2015 when he decided that his supporters back Okowa, even from his prison cell in London. He was said to have mobilised resources and his wide network to oppose Uduaghan’s late choice of Chief David Edevbie. To compensate Ibori and emphasise the unity of the PDP under his leadership, Governor Okowa appointed Edevbie as his finance commissioner between 2015 and 2019, the same position he held in the administration of Governor Ibori between 1999 and 2007. After serving as finance commissioner in Okowa’s first term, the governor reappointed him as his Chief of Staff from 2019 up till 2021 when he dissolved his cabinet. He was not reappointed as Okowa said the move was to ease out officials with political ambitions so as to not distract the business of government.

The easing out of Edevbie was one of the clear signs that there was a succession disagreement among the State’s PDP top brass. Soon it was evident that while Ibori was rooting for Edevbie to succeed Okowa, the governor was having none of it. Unable to come to consensus, the party had a fractious primary where Okowa triumphed in his candidate winning the election by a wide margin, with Edevbie coming a distant second. In the primary held on May 25th Oborevwori polled 590 votes while Edevbie got 113 votes. The governor’s candidate is Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, Speaker of the State House of Assembly. He represents Okpe Constituency.

Since Speaker Oborevwori won the PDP ticket, he has faced an avalanche of petitions from Edevbie and others over his certificates. These petitions have alleged that he forged them and ought to have been disqualified from contesting the primary. They demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commision (INEC) drop him as Delta PDP governorship candidate. Edevbie even took the matter up to the judiciary, pleading that Oborevwori be disqualified and he declared as the duly elected candidate of the party for the election. That matter first succeeded at the Federal High Court, then failed at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Delivering the apex court’s judgement on October 21, the five-member panel of the court led by Justice Amina Augie unanimously held that there was no merit in the suit filed by David Edevbie with respect to the Delta PDP governorship tussle. The lead judgement delivered by Tijjani Abubakar upheld the legal reasoning of the Court of Appeal that the suit ought not to have been commenced by originating summons. This is based on its position that issues bordering on serious allegations of fraud cannot be commenced by originating summons “as mere affidavits are not enough to address the issues.” The court insisted, as the appeal court had ruled, that “Sundry allegations of fraud” made by Edevbie against Oborevwori required calling of witnesses and oral testimony. “I find no merit in this appeal and it is hereby dismissed. The decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on 29 August is hereby affirmed,” the Supreme Court held.

Part of Edevbie’s claims is that Oborevwori’s certificates are forged because of allegedinconsistencies in the names. These include a mixture of Oborevwori, Sheriff, Francis and Orohwedor used interchangeably in his certificates submitted to INEC in violation of the Nigerian constitution and the Electoral Act.

The Federal High Court in Abuja, which nullified Oborevwori’s candidacy in July held that Mr Edevbie’s suit was meritorious as Mr Oborevwori failed to provide contrary evidence to contradict the claims in the suit. While the judge held that it was premature to declare Mr Edevbie as the candidate of the party since no nomination has been officially made to INEC, he did not declare a fresh primary election to be conducted, saying he did not want to preempt the decision of the party. The Court of Appeal however reversed the judgement, saying that it was a miscarriage of justice because the criminal allegations were not established as required by law. Justice Peter Ige who presided said the claims against the Speaker were criminal in nature and must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

The appellate court also held that Mr Edevbie, who filed the suit at the Federal High Court, ought to have approached the court via Writ of Summons to enable the resolution of disputes and not by originating summons where only affidavit evidence is required. This last position, which was upheld by the supreme court, seems a live wire that has made the race for Delta very interesting and up in the air.

Two factors are believed to be very important in the election. The first is the continued division in the PDP as Ibori and other leaders of the party have not warmed up to Okowa and his candidate. When the party had its inaugural Campaign rally in Asaba on November 3rd, former governors Ibori and Uduaghan, as well as its only senator, representing Delta South, did not attend. Their absence was so loud that Governor Okowa called for unity and reminded them that he had lost previous primaries but remained a loyall party man. Despite the absence of the leaders, the party was upbeat about its chances, with Oborevwori stating boldly that he will the election based on Okowa’s performance in office and the fact that the state has always voted PDP.

Oborevwori has more armoury in his kitty. A politician who trumps up his street credibility, the PDP candidate is one who sees himself as a leader who has lived with the people all his life, in good and bad times and relates with the people across board. His easy access is a plus. He has previously served as chairman of Okpe local government during the regime of Uduaghan. He also has the benefit of the support of the governor who is the political leader of Delta North senatorial district. His main opponent will be the APC candidate Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege who himself has built a wide base in the state.

A former Secretary to the State Government who started out as executive assistant to Governor Ibori in 1999, Omo-Agege has run for governor previously and lost. This time he has a major party ticket to ride on…and a potential litigation to pursue should he lose the main election. Other candidates in the race but who are not expected to make much impact are experienced contestants Chief Kenneth Gbagi and Chief Great Ogboru, whose name and reputation helped to establish the opposition to the ruling PDP in the state since 2003. Oborevwori is confident that he will win. He says he is on good terms with Ibori and other party leaders, having visited them several times on his ambition. He even disclosed that before declaring his intention to contest for the office of governor, he visited Ibori and got his blessings to run. He sees the Supreme Court judgement as giving him a clean bill since he said there was no issue in the first place. He is reaching out to other aggrieved stakeholders in the PDP to urge them to come on board his campaign train.