Against the Odds, Okowa Breasts the Tape
Despite the intrigues and high wire politics, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, emerged the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Delta State. Davidson Iriekpen writes
As the dust begins to settle down over the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary in the country, one result that has shocked bookmakers is the victory in Delta State of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health. He shocked political pundits when he coasted to victory with 406 votes, beating 14 other contestants to the gubernatorial ticket.
Olorogun David Edevbie, the supposed anointed candidate of the incumbent governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, came a distant second with 299 votes while former Delta House of Assembly Speaker Victor Ochei came third with 185 votes. Sir Anthony Obuh, who was initially favoured by the governor, scored a paltry four votes.
Soon after Okowa was declared winner of the election, some residents poured into the streets of Asaba in spontaneous jubilation as sporadic gun shots were heard in different parts of the city. It was clearly the result that many of the people had been hoping and praying for.
According to an Anioma leader, “Senator Okowa is not just a darling of the political class; he is also greatly loved by the people for his simplicity, humility, and accessibility.”
Okowa’s victory in what was clearly a free, fair, and transparent election has for now broken the myth of incumbency. From the very onset, it was believed that he did not stand a chance given the government backing of Obuh, who many believed was the man to beat.
The odds were stacked against Okowa and his stunning victory has left political analysts racking their brains for answers to what happened in the politics of the oil rich state.
According to sources within the party, it was misleading for people and the media to dismiss Okowa as an underdog. PDP stakeholders in the state, who spoke with THISDAY said the media propaganda had no bearing with the reality on the ground.
“Okowa is a consummate politician, popular grassroots mobiliser and strategic planner. He is a tested politician with strings of achievements in the political arena. So that people were disregarding him was a big and costly mistake,” said a party official, who did not want to be named.
The party official recalled the 2010 Delta North senatorial primary election where Okowa defeated the wife of the national chairman of the party, Mrs. Marian Ali, to clinch the senate ticket.
“This was a situation where the party structures at the national and state levels were arrayed against him, yet he won with a landslide. How many politicians do you know that can pull off such a feat?”
According to sources in Asaba, Okowa did not mind that he was being ignored and underrated, including the media despite his towering political profile as a former local government chairman, three-time commissioner, and former Secretary to the State Government.
It is partly because unlike most politicians, Okowa is not the publicity-seeking type, and partly because, as one of his aides puts it, “he likes to surprise people. He likes people to underestimate him. He does not mind being ignored. In fact, he prefers to operate under the radar so that when the time comes, he will surprise you. We knew he had control of majority of the delegates even while all the propaganda was going on.”
The ward congresses of the party where the ad hoc delegates for the primaries were selected helped to prepare the ground for his victory. Unlike in many states where the state governors were able to hijack the entire process and installed their cronies as delegates, that was not the situation in Delta.
The PDP stakeholders in the state comprising former party chairmen, federal legislators and party leaders withstood the governor. As a result, the delegates were shared and that meant stiff competition for all the aspirants seeking to secure the party’s tickets for any elective posts. Sources point to the competitive nature of the primaries in Delta as a proof that no one person had the delegates in their pockets.
During the various primaries that held in the state, there were alignment and realignment of forces, horse-trading and intense lobbying for delegates’ votes as it became virtually impossible for one person to decide the outcome of the elections.
Another party leader told THISDAY that it was partly because of the tough contests in the primaries that forced the government to rethink the candidature of Obuh. “By the time the results from the National Assembly primaries came in, they saw the handwriting that Obuh was not likely to make it,” he said.
According to findings, most allies of Okowa clinched the party’s ticket for the House of Representatives election while even the candidate of the governor in his local government lost. Before then, the governor had dropped out of the Senate race to pave the way for the incumbent senator of Delta South, James Manager, an ally of Okowa.
In a move to stave off imminent disgrace for Obuh at the governorship primary election, Obuh was promptly dumped for Edevbie, an Urhobo and former finance commissioner under former governor James Ibori about 48 hours to the election.
It was a clear case of political brinksmanship. Before Edevbie became the surprise contender at the eleventh hour, Okowa was reportedly very confident of a landslide victory against a political upstart like Obuh. The governor’s choice had alienated the political class because Obuh was considered an outsider to the PDP family.
According to a source close to Okowa, “We were really praying that the governor would not pick a politician because that would have made the battle very tough. We never wanted him to be disqualified because it would have complicated matters for us.”
Since the votes from Delta North were expected to be split among the various contestants from the zone, Okowa was relying on the massive support from Delta Central and South where he had forged a network of alliance over the years to coast home to victory.
The endorsement of Edevbie however changed everything. The George Omene-led Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), which had been clamouring for an Urhobo governor had promptly announced that all Urhobo candidates should step down for Edevbie.
In addition, all the delegates from Delta Central were ordered to vote en masse for Edevbie. Reports had it that members of the UPU spent the Saturday night preceding the election visiting the various traditional rulers in the zone and urging them to direct their delegates to vote for Edevbie.
Under the new arrangement proposed by the governor, Delta North was to produce the deputy governor while the speaker of the state House of Assembly was zoned to Delta South. Tony Obuh was reportedly offered the slot of deputy governor. It was a deft move by the governor.
The Delta North which is supposed to produce the governor, according to the PDP zoning principle, had no less than seven contestants in the race. That meant that the votes from the zone would be balkanised while Edevbie could count on the numerical strength of Delta Central and the sympathy from the South comprising the Ijaws, Isokos and Itsekiris.
THISDAY gathered that one of the members of the Okowa campaign group had rushed to Ughelli, the town of Edevbie to rally the troops but returned that night with the sad news that most of the delegates who were initially for Okowa had switched sides with Edevbie in view of the new development.
“That move by the governor almost sounded the death knell on Okowa’s aspiration,” said an Urhobo leader. “If his feet were not firm on the ground, it would have been a different story today.” He said the relationships that Okowa had built over the years across the three senatorial zones kept him in good stead.
Delegates from some of the local government areas, THISDAY gathered, refused to heed the summons from their traditional rulers insisting on voting for Okowa as dictated by their conscience.
Political analysts told THISDAY that the dumping of Obuh by Uduaghan and the offer of the position of deputy governor to him did not go down well with his supporters in Delta North.
Okowa then became the rallying point for them and others from the North, who saw their chance of producing the governor slipping away. Many of the delegates from the zone decided to give their votes to Okowa in protest against what they termed the “born-to-rule mentality” of the Urhobos.
Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, PDP South-south Chairman and long-time opponent of Okowa, surprisingly asked delegates from Ika South, where he and Obuh come from to vote for Okowa. The backing of Okowa by Ojougboh has fuelled speculations of both political stalwarts reconciling their differences.
The same scenario played out in Aniocha North where delegates loyal to the former state party chairman, Peter Nwaoboshi, switched to Okowa because according to one of the delegates from the area, “he represented Anioma people’s best chance of getting the governorship.”
Some delegates from Ibusa also told THISDAY that they switched to Okowa’s side after Obuh was dumped because he (Okowa) was Anioma people’s best chance of getting the governorship.
The deciding factor in the election was Delta South comprising the Itsekiris, Ijaws and Isokos. Anticipating that Okowa might get sympathy votes from Anioma nation, the UPU tried to woo political leaders in the south, notably Senator James Manager.
They promised to repay the South by voting en bloc for President Jonathan. Unfortunately that did not work as the South stood solidly behind Okowa. Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, an associate of Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, told journalists that the Ijaws “worked for Okowa because we know he is the leader that Delta State needs now.”
However, the confusion generated by the last minute change in the choice of the establishment candidate worked in favour of Okowa. The political class seemed to have grown tired and frustrated of the governor’s frequent change of candidate.
Long before he settled for Obuh, there were rumours that he had endorsed Victor Ochei, Charles Emetulu, and Festus Okubor, all of whom he reportedly dropped at different times. It gave the impression of a governor who either was deceiving them or did not know what he wanted. One lesson that can be gleaned from the Delta gubernatorial primary is that with hard work, focus, planning, and dedication, any serious candidate can emerge victorious in a free, fair, and transparent election.
It also encourages aspirants to political office to seek to connect with the electorate instead of depending on political godfathers to impose them on the people. Ultimately, Okowa’s triumph is seen as a victory for a united Delta State. Having run on a pan-Delta agenda, his victory, many say sends out a clear message to other politicians to shun ethnic bigotry and parochial interests.