Delta 2023: Omo-Agege Storms Ayiri Emami Home, Begs Party’s Chieftain For Support

The All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Delta state, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, on Tuesday stormed the Ubeji country home of a prominent party chieftain, Chief Ayirimi Emami, and begged him to fully support his governorship ambition. 

This came as campaigning for the 2023 general election started to pick up steam.

According to www.bigpenngr.com, Omo-Agege sent two emissaries, including the director general of his campaign, Elder Godsday Orubebe, and the state party chairman, Elder Omeni Sobotie, ahead to prepare the ground for his consultation visit to Ayiri.

Before Omo-Agege’s scheduled late-night visit, it was learned that Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, the APC candidate for Delta South Senatorial District, had a one-on-one meeting with Ayiri in an effort to use his political clout to win Warri South-West council votes.

Prior to this, Ayiri had not publicly endorsed Omo-Agege’s governorship bid but had expressed strong support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC’s presidential candidate.

It was gathered that Omo-Agege, in a bid to shore up his support base, approached the Ologbotsere of Itsekiri Kingdom for support ahead of the 2023 general election.

Among those present at the meeting was Hon. Efe Ofobruku, a former PDP governorship candidate and member of the Delta House of Assembly, who was recently poached by Ayiri for his “Asiwaju project.” He also had Chief Victor Otomewo, a former attorney general, in his political camp.

Omo-Agege, who was joined by his running mate, Hon. Friday Osanebi, the state party chairman, and other prominent APC political figures in the state, used the occasion, which turned into a private dinner meeting, to ask for votes from the Itsekiri people, disclosing he had previously met with the revered Olu of Warri Kingdom to ask for the king’s blessing and support.

He maintained that starting in 2023, with Tinubu as president, himself serving as governor, and Onowakpo serving as the senator representing Delta South in the red chamber, the Itsekiri nation would reap the benefits of democracy that had been withheld from them by previous governments.

“We will change the course of politics of Delta. We need people who have the same ideology as ours and who believe that something is wrong in Delta to join us to mount the mettle of leadership.

“We will change the narrative by enthroning a new president in the person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ovie Omo-Agege as governor of Delta and Joel-Onowakpo as your senator to reverse the trend of marginalization that the Itsekiri nation has suffered.”

He said that as a senator representing the good people of Delta Central, he was able to ensure that nearly every community within his senatorial district had a footprint of why he was sent to the national assembly to make law and bring quality representation to the people.

“I have a friendly presidency that made my representation worthwhile. I can proudly say that my footprints are in nearly every community that we represent at the national assembly, and we are still doing more. He said if he is given the mandate as governor, ‘the whole of Delta state will be my constituency and the people will rejoice that I am elected governor’.

In response, Chief Ayiri asserted that the party’s governorship candidate and other APC candidates would be impacted by the “Asiwaju project,” which he has been a strong supporter of.

“Asiwaju project is Itsekiri’s project. No sane Itsekiri person can oppose the Asiwaju project. To us, your project (ambition to govern Delta) is our project. I have said it before that Asuwaju is from Delta State by virtue of his marriage to an Itsekiri woman, and his candidacy is our collective project. 

“I can categorically tell you that whatever affects Asiwaju will affect you and other candidates of the party,” he told Omo-Agege.

The recent absence of some APC bigwigs from the APC’s campaign council’s inauguration fueled rumours that Omo-Agege’s bid for governor did not have the full support of all prominent party chieftains.

Omo-Agege was said to have angered the party’s power brokers by allegedly hijacking the party’s structure and governorship ticket.