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Omo-Agege Denies Ordering Dafinone To Vote Against Akpabio
Former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has denied claims that he instructed Senator Ede Dafinone to vote against Senator Godswill Akpabio in the 2023 election for President of the 10th Senate.
Omo-Agege made the denial in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Strategy and Communications, Godwin Anaughe.
He said he never commanded Dafinone, or any other senator, to vote against Akpabio, adding that he openly backed Akpabio in line with the position of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership at the time.
The statement was in response to comments credited to a supporter of Dafinone, Ejiro Etaghene, on Crown FM and Kpoko FM, alleging that Omo-Agege ordered Dafinone to vote against Akpabio, and that this was why Akpabio kept Dafinone at a distance.
Omo-Agege’s camp described the claim as false and an orchestrated smear.
According to the statement, President Bola Tinubu met with the leadership of the National Assembly and the APC at Defence House, where it was decided that Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibrin would be the APC candidates for Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively.
Omo-Agege said he was in the room and participated in the decision, and that it was therefore inconceivable that he would direct Dafinone to vote otherwise.
He said he later met with Dafinone and Senator Joel Onowakpo-Thomas at his Asokoro residence and shared the party’s direction with them, and that both senators committed to support Akpabio.
The statement further claimed that despite the commitment, Dafinone attended meetings of supporters of Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, Akpabio’s rival in the election, and that Vice President Kashim Shettima had to intervene by asking Omo-Agege to advise both senators to support the party’s position.
It also claimed that Elder Omeni Sobotie, then Chairman of Delta APC, and Elder Godsday Orubebe, Director-General of Omo-Agege’s 2023 governorship campaign, met with the two senators at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, where they again promised to vote for Akpabio.
Omo-Agege’s camp said after the vote, Onowakpo-Thomas sent a text message stating: “Instructions carried out, Akpabio has won.”
The statement claimed that when evidence later emerged that the two Delta senators did not vote for Akpabio, Omo-Agege confronted Dafinone, who allegedly admitted: “I voted for Yari. On principle, I could not bring myself to vote for Akpabio.”
Omo-Agege said he later met with Akpabio to set the record straight, in company with Engr. Tuoyo Omatstuli, who was said to have been present at the Transcorp meeting.
He challenged Dafinone to come out himself and say on record that he voted for Yari because Omo-Agege told him to do so.
“Dafinone did what he did completely on his own volition. Omo-Agege did not defy the party. Dafinone did,” the statement said.
Akpabio defeated Yari with 63 votes to 46 to become President of the 10th Senate in June 2023.
Findings later showed that Onowakpo-Thomas was among the APC senators who voted for Akpabio, contrary to the published list that said the two Delta senators voted against Akpabio.
Omo-Agege and Dafinone are now rivals for the Delta Central senatorial seat in 2027. While Dafinone won the APC ticket, Omo-Agege disagreed with the result and later defected to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) to contest the same seat.
As at the time of filing this report, Senator Dafinone had not responded to Omo-Agege’s latest claims.
