•Why I dumped PDP twice in Delta

ASABA—A former Commissioner and leader of the All Progressives Congress,  APC, in Delta State, Dr. Chris Ekiyor, has said the former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, would make strategic decisions when the time comes in 2027.

Ibori, among the founders of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, fell out with the former governor of the state and vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, over the latter’s successor. 

Ibori has kept a noticeable distance from the PDP in Delta State since then, despite the attempts by the incumbent governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, to accord him all necessary privileges.

Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, Ibori’s daughter, who won the Ethiope Federal Constituency ticket in 2023 on the platform of the PDP, dumped the party for the rival APC last year, a development that enraged party leaders who paved the way for her victory because of her father. 

With his daughter now in the APC, controlled in the state by the former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, whom Ibori worked to install as governor in preference to Oborevwori in the 2023 governorship polls, many believe Ibori, a close friend of President Bola Tinubu, may fully work for the party in 2027. 

Ibori has left many guessing about his political direction since Okowa refused his choice of Mr. David Edevbie in 2022.

Ekiyor, who contested the Patani/Bomadi Federal Constituency ticket in 2023 and lost, said: “There is the Wike politics in everything. His Excellency, James Ibori, is experienced enough to make strategic decisions for Delta State when the time comes.

“This is a state he worked so hard as governor to develop. I can tell you that, but for his political travails, he remains one of the greatest governors of Nigeria and a fighter for resource control who stood firm against the oppression of the center so that Delta can be developed.

I left the PDP twice, painfully first in 2011 due to a lack of internal democracy. One man in my constituency had sat tight in the House of Representatives for 12 years in a position; the Patani and Bomadi local government areas have consistently shared one tenure each since the 2nd Republic. Efforts made to get the PDP to see reason and interfere proved abortive.

The governorship seat rotates among the three senatorial districts in the state, and other political slots also rotate among the tribes in the constituency. 

Strangely, in the Patani/Bomadi Federal Constituency, the PDP leaders said there was no vacancy. 

So, I left and joined the former Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. At that time, I already had a conviction that Lagos was working because of the legacy of Tinubu.

My Ijaw patriotism led me to rejoin the PDP to back former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign for re-election. If I had known this Wike type of politics, perhaps I would have remained in the ACN while still supporting GEJ’s re-election (laughing)

But that was it. However, I had to finally leave PDP to APC when I realised that the former governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, had no plans for the Ijaws of Delta State, having worked for him to be governor, stayed close to him while working under his erstwhile deputy, Deacon Kingsley Otuaro, as a special secretary to resolve the Niger-Delta Avengers crisis.

I had to take a bow and return to where I believe the Ijaws can achieve more. Of course, the APC won the Delta South Senatorial District. For the first time, we made it happen. The PDP could change that, so for me, it is what benefits the Ijaw people that propelled my decision, coupled with the lack of internal democracy in the PDP

PDP has been there for the past 26 years; the APC in Delta State is just gaining traction, so it is expected to have its teething problems of alignment and re-alignment of internal structures. But we will come out stronger and better, I can assure you.

There are no factions, just minor mistakes and guided social media writers creating the factions. Like I said, the stars will realign to suit reality. There is only one APC; when the leaders meet, whatever perceived factionalism will be crushed.

Since its founding, the APC has failed to win the state’s governorship. 

Everything has its time. It is about to happen; APC will win Delta sooner or later.

Exactly my point!

It is long overdue.