Unfolding Battle in Delta South
Choosing who will represent the Delta South Senatorial District in 2019 has the potential of turning the district into a battleground. Segun James looks at the aspirants angling for the seat
This is the time of the year when politicians get top billing. After all, the political season is here and it is the make-or-break period for many an ambitious politician. In Delta state, these times are here. Finally, active politicking has taken off in Delta state and elsewhere. But unlike most other states of the federation, the battlefront is not at the gubernatorial level. That has been settled within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party that has ruled the state since the coming of the fourth republic: Governor Ifeanyi Okowa will retain his position without challenge.
At the governorship level, the battle will be between him and whoever the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) tosses in for the race.
However, the battle front is at the senatorial level; with the Delta South Senatorial District which comprises of the Isoko, Ijaw and the Itsekiri ethnic nationalities as the hottest battle ground.
In the Igbo speaking Delta North, the battle is between the Ndowa people and Aniocha people of Asaba. At present, the senator representing the area, Peter Nwaoboshi is angling for a repeat performance, but he is facing a daunting opposition in Governor Okowa who believes the Ndokwa people should be given a chance.
In the Delta Central Senatorial District, which is made up entirely of the Urhobo ethnic group, the battle for the PDP ticket is between Senator Ighoyota Amori who was removed by the courts. Amori enjoys the support of the political godfather of the state, Chief James Ibori and Charles Obule, a friend and loyalist of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. With the support of these heavyweights, Omo-Agege is in for a tough job defending the senatorial seat. Moreso, Omo-Agege is of the APC who won the seat after a protracted legal battle. The reality however, is that Delta is largely a PDP state.
Now, the battleground is the Delta South where the gladiators are formidable and battle ready. The war should have been strictly that of the Itsekiri people whose turn it is to produce the next senator for the district, but for the insistence of Senator James Manager, the senator who has been representing the district since 2003 insisting on a fifth term in office. A move which is being challenged by former governor Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, who is insisting that the move for a fifth term is against the gentleman’s agreement between the ethnic nationalities agreed upon many years ago.
Uduaghan, like many of his Itsekiri ethnic stock argue that it is against equity, justice and fairplay to allow Manager to go for a fifth time.
In the old Bendel State, following the commencement of politics in 1978, the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) divided the state into districts, putting the Isoko, Ijaw and Itsekiri in one district. Knowing the implication that the move can degenerate into ethnic hostilities, the leadership of the three ethnic groups led by Pa Alfred Rewane for the Itsekiri, Chief E. K Clark for the Ijaw and Chief Francis Okpozo for the Isoko worked out a gentleman’s agreement which should allow each tribe one term as senator.
The Itsekiri took the first shot with Senator Franklin Atake. He was followed by Senator E.K Clarke, the Ijaw leader before the second republic was truncated by the military. The Isoko had their turn in 1992 when Senator Francis Okpozo represented the district during the short-lived third republic.
In 1999, the people agreed to reshuffle the system with the Isoko taking the first shot. That was how Senator (Mrs.) Stella Omu without opposition from other ethnic groups represented the district.
She made way for James Manager who is an Ijaw to take the seat; and that was when things changed. Manager has since remained the senator who has unprecedentedly, gone to the senate for four consecutive terms. He had used all within his powers to stifle any opposition.
But the situation recently changed when the Itsekiri made it clear that it would be wrong to go for a fifth term at the expense of the two other ethnic groups. The person who is championing this move is none other than the former governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan under whose government Manager went to the senate on two consecutive occasions.
With such formidable foes, the question is who is going to blink first? From all indication, Manager and the House of Representatives member representing the Patani federal constituency, an jaw area in the district, Nicholas Mutu are already having crisis at the home front. Mutu has been representing the constituency since 1999; a situation which made him along with former senate president, Senator David Mark the oldest members of the National Assembly.
The people of Patani have started agitating for a change, a problem which Mutu has been trying frantically to sort out with the people and Governor Okowa who has also insisted on having a new blood to take over over from both Mutu and Manager.
This, THISDAY gathered is the crux of the battle in the district. Okowais is said to favour Uduaghan’s ambition having served under him as both Secretary to the State Government and a senator.
This, it is believed is why Manager has called for the backing of the godfather, Chief James Ibori under whom he served as commissioner for works and who later ensured that he went to the Senate.
But the caveat in that is that Uduaghan is first cousin to Ibori and it was him that ensured that Uduaghan took over from him as governor. Will Ibori jettison family for friendship? That is the question as the fight for the Delta South Senatorial District hots up.
But in the midst of all these is the challenge posed to Uduaghan by Mr. Michael Diden aka Ejele, the member of the state’s house of assembly for Warri North constituency. In the past, Ejele has been the machine used by both Ibori and Uduaghan to secure the vote of the people of the riverine areas of the state, the area that determines who wins the vote.
Today, Ejele is a friend of Okowa and antagonistic towards both Ibori and Uduaghan. However, Uduaghan enjoys the confidence of the Isoko people who are against another tenure for Manager as his continued “usurpation” of the senatorial position has deprived them of their chance.
In the ethnic configuration of the senatorial district, the continued stay of Manager as the senator representing the district has been very unusual, given the fact of the recent ethnic battle that resulted in the loss of many lives and the burning of many communities in the fratricidal war between the Ijaw, the Urhobo and the Itsekiri at the turn of the century.
To the Itsekiri, there must be a return to the gentleman’s agreement, a position that some Ijaw and Isoko ethnic leaders favour but which Manager is determined to scuttle.
In 2015, despite frantic effort of the Isoko and the Itsekiri to remove Manager, it took the spirited effort of fugitive militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo aka Tom Polo who used his influence and also insisted that his cousin, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro be made the deputy governor to ensure that Manager was returned as senator.
But with Tom Polo out of the political firmament of the state and Okowa now his own man, it would be a daunting task for Manager to return. However, from all indication and barring any last minute upset, is all for Uduaghan to pick
But the caveat in that is that Uduaghan is first cousin to Ibori and it was him that ensured that Uduaghan took over from him as governor. Will Ibori jettison family for friendship? That is the question as the fight for the Delta South Senatorial District hots up.