Keyamo, Ochei, Ojuogboh, Kachikwu, Other APC Bigwigs Absent As Omo-Agege Inaugurates Guber Campaign Council

The All Progressive Congress (APC)’s governorship campaign council was officially inaugurated on Monday in Asaba, the capital of Delta state, but some prominent party chieftains and stakeholders were conspicuously absent.

The development has fueled rumours that the party is in disarray because some of the chieftains don’t seem to agree with the party’s candidate.

The party’s nominee for governor is Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who also serves as deputy president of the senate.

Omo-Agege’s bid for governor has drawn criticism from some party leaders because of his involvement in the state’s escalating APC crisis.

Since Omo-Agege allegedly hijacked the party structure and governorship ticket in the previous primary, Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for labour and employment, and Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, the executive director of maritime labour and cabotage services, have been on opposite sides of the debate reluctantly supporting Omo-Agege’s candidacy.

Ibe Kachikwu, a former minister, is one of those who has avoided Omo-Agege’s gubernatorial campaign and was absent from the Asaba event.

Omo-Agege and Cairo Ojougboh, the former executive director of projects at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), have been at odds, and Ojougboh had vowed not to let Omo-Agege’s candidacy fly. He was among those who boycotted the event.

Elder Godsday Orubebe, the campaign’s director general and a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, stood out among the political figures present at the event.

Professor Eugene Okorocha, Engr. Omatsola Tuoyo, Dr. Alex Ideh, and others attended. Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, a founding member of the party in the state, the former chairman of DESOPADEC, Chief Wellington Okrika, and others also attended.

As a result of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s “misrule” of Delta state for the previous seven years, Omo-Agege used the occasion to implore Deltans not to support and vote for him. Okowa is the PDP presidential running mate for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the party’s candidate.

With Rt. Hon. Friday Osanebi standing by his side as his running mate for governor, Omo-Agege declared: “We must retake our dear State from Governor Ifeanyi Okowa who, along with his allies, has held our state hostage.” 

“After over seven years of Okowa, one thing we all agree on is that there is a huge gap between the funds Delta State received, generated and borrowed; even recklessly, and what Okowa’s government has done. 

“This has left our state seriously undermined in so many ways that are too numerous to count. Okowa misused and wasted our hard-earned resources. And when the state ran out of funds, he embarked on a reckless borrowing spree, thereby mortgaging our future and those of our unborn children.

“And now he wants to handover to his stooge, Speaker Sheriff Francis Oborevwori, who approved every kobo that was wasted and stolen to shield himself from accountability. 

“For the years of Sheriff’s speakership, the Delta State House of Assembly has been a rubber stamp, giving everything Okowa asks for without effective oversight, thereby undermining the entire idea of the Separation of Powers enshrined in our Constitution as well as weakening our democracy”.