I Was 18 Yrs When Ogboru Was Indicted For Coup Plotting; Today I’m In The Delta Governorship Race With Him  – Ofehe

Netherlands based environmental rights activist and frontline APC governorship aspirant in Delta state, Comrade Sunny Ofehe has said he may end up as the only main contender for the APC ticket with Chief Great Ogboru who was indicted for coup plotting when he just 18 years old.

Ofehe, who stated this in a statement made available to BigPen Online on Friday, said that Ogboru who have been contesting the governorship elections in Delta State since 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, would be his main rival for the APC ticket.

He said his recent meeting with Ogboru whom he met for the first time after the failed coup saga, was a demonstration that politics should be devoid of acrimony, insults and name-calling.

He said that democracy has brought him as governorship contestant against Ogboru who made his name in the ill-fated coup when he was still a “poor little teenager”, saying that he would have doubted it if anyone would have told him 28 years ago that he would be in the race with the Urhobo-born business tycoon.

Predicting that Ogboru and himself would end up as the main contender for the APC ticket, Ofehe said; “The race to pick up the Delta State Governorship ticket under the current Nigeria national ruling political party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) may be between myself and this notable son of Urhobo extraction called Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru”.

According to him; “I was just 18 year old, in April 1990, when Ogboru was indicted in the failed coup attempt of Gideon Orkar and fled Nigeria. He returned to Nigeria in June 2000 and joined the democratic process. He contested the governorship elections in Delta State in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015.

“Today, he is contesting for the fifth consecutive time and I happen to be his opponent”.

He said that what transpired between him and Ogboru during the just concluded APC State Congress last weekend was the beauty of democracy, saying that democratic processes must be free for rancour, bitterness and unnecessary rivalry.

Ofehe, who had crave niche for himself championing major issues of the Niger Delta region in Europe, including facilitating the visit of European parliamentarians to the creeks of the Niger Delta, said “political games” should be played in a more humane and accepted manner in order not to inflame passions.

“At the Delta State APC Party Congress last weekend, I met him (Ogboru) for the first time. As our tradition demands, I bent down to greet him in our native language “migwo sir” then he said to me “Sunny Ofehe, my young political opponent let me stand up and greet you.”

“It was then our laughter was caught on camera. If anyone would have told me 28 years ago when I first heard the name of Chief Great Ogboru that one day I will contest the number one seat of Delta State with him,  I would have doubted it. I was a poor little teenager when he first made his name in Nigeria.

“This is the beauty of Democracy!”

Story by Julius Eras-Olabowu