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You Can’t Retire The Man Who Made You Senator – Group Blasts Dafinone Over Wizards Comment
A political group has slammed Senator Ede Dafinone over his recent vow to “retire all the wizards in Delta Central,” describing the lawmaker as a joke taken too far and an ungrateful beneficiary of the political structure built by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
The response, signed by Godwin Anaughe, follows Dafinone’s statement at the inauguration of the Delta APC Campaign Council where he said he was assigned to retire wizards in Delta Central.
In a statement titled “Dafinone Has Become a Joke Taken Too Far, Can’t Retire the Man Who Made Him Senator,” Anaughe said Dafinone’s political story is that “he got what he never worked for.”
“When real party men were on the ground building structures, funding the APC and battling the PDP with their own resources, Dafinone was nowhere near the trenches. He was in his air-conditioned office waiting for a call,” the statement said.
The group claimed the Delta Central ticket was handed to Dafinone in 2023 by Omo-Agege as party leader “without any serious contest,” and accused him of betrayal.
“That is Dafinone’s CV. No primary fight, no structure, no street credibility. Just a gifted ticket. And now, almost three and a half years into a tenure that has been a textbook example of absentee representation, the same beneficiary is on a podium saying he will retire the wizards,” it added.
Anaughe scored Dafinone low on representation, questioning his legislative impact and federal presence, saying he reduced “one of the most powerful Senate seats in Nigeria, once the office of the Deputy President of the Senate, to a mere attendance sheet.”
“If there is any wizard here, it is Dafinone himself – the wizard of vanishing. He vanishes from legislative debates, vanishes from his constituency, vanishes from the fight for Urhobo relevance. The only place he never vanishes is in front of a camera,” he stated.
The statement warned that 2027 is around the corner and that Delta Central will organise “a proper retirement party” not for wizards but for “political tourists.”
“Dafinone needs to understand that Delta Central is not a family business where a Senate seat is passed around like company shares. You cannot retire Omo-Agege. You can’t even retire his shadow,” Anaughe said.
“Omo-Agege rose to become the number five man in this country through strategy, grit and popular support. Dafinone got to the Senate by riding on his back and now hopes to return on the back of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori. The difference is clear”, the statement taunted.
As at press time, Senator Dafinone has not responded to the statement.