Delta 2015: Uduaghan Endorses Edevbie to Keep Delta North Hope for Governor Alive

Uduaghan’s public show of support for David Edevbie is part of Project Obuh game plan

Ahead of tomorrow’s governorship primaries of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the hope of an aspirant from Delta North picking the governorship ticket seems to now hang in the balance. Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan had last night in a high powered meeting with leaders from the Urhobo land endorsed the governorship candidacy of David Edevbie.

Edevbie, who hails from Ughelli, was the former principal secretary to late President Umaru Yar’Adua, and served as former commissioner for Finance throughout Chief James Ibori’s 8-year tenure as Governor of Delta State. On Thursday, 5 December 2014 the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) adopted Edevbie as the consensus candidate. The move appears to put spanner in the works zoning arrangement of the State party. Delta north is the only zone that is yet to produce a governor, and PDP had, in principle, zoned the 2015 governorship to the Anioma land, as Delta north is also referred.

The media speculation is that Uduaghan has opted to support Edevbie to get even with leaders and stakeholders from Delta North for failing to get “the 12 aspirants to adopt a consensus candidate,” which he had hoped would be his preferred candidate, Mr. Anthony Obuh, his former Permanent Secretary of Government House and Protocol, whom he drafted into the governorship race and has thus far backed his candidacy with pricely sum of over N10 billion war chest. The speculation also, according to This Day, is that the choice of Edevbie is “to placate the Ibori political family and ensure a soft landing for Uduaghan.”

Whatever is the media speculations, Uduaghan’s endorsement of Edevbie is seen by many Delta Northerners as an act of betrayal because it means that not only has Obuh been left high and dry in the middle of the race, but the hope of Anioma producing a governor come February 2015, which Uduaghan has several times professed publicly to support, is now dead in the water.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, Mr Tony Obuh and Chief James Ibori

XCLUSIVE Magazine has reliable gathered that this is not the case. The source told XCLUSIVE Magazine that Tony Obuh is still the anointed candidate of the Delta state governor and that Uduaghan’s public show of support for Edevbie is part of the political game plan to produce a governor from Delta North. Also, the plan is still on for some aspirants such as Deputy Governor Prof Amos Utuama, Prof Sylvester Monye, Godwin Emetulu, Dr Festus Okubor, Chief Mrs Uduehi, Chief Uwaka, Amb. Gabriel Oyibode and Chief Godswill Obeilum to step down for Obuh before the primaries, or alternatively, they tell their delegates to vote for Obuh instead.

Before Uduaghan’s declaration of support for Edevbie, seventy percent of the votes from delegates from Urhobo was going to Hon Victor Ochei and Dr Ifeanyi Okowa to the disadvantage of Obuh. The calculation is that with the combined support of UPU and Uduaghan, Edevbie will get the chunk of the Urhobo votes in the primaries, which will leave Okowa and Ochei scrambling for less than 30 per cent of Urhobo votes to Obuh’s advantage. The source insists that Delta North For Delta Governor 2015 is fait accompli, with Obuh the frontrunner.

However, XCLUSIVE Magazine can authoritatively report that the success of this Uduaghan’s Project Obuh Game Plan in tomorrow’s governorship primaries depends, to a great extent, on the outcome of senatorial PDP primaries in Delta North Delta state. XCLUSIVE Magazine reliably gathered that Barrister Peter Nwaoboshi, who is contesting for senate in the Oshimili North and purportedly instrumental to the damage on Ochei and Okowa’s ambition for his support of Uduaghan’s Project Obuh, is threatening to tear Project Obuh game plan into shreds if he didn’t win the primaries. Nwaoboshi, called Oracle by his political loyalists, is running against Chief Mrs Nneamaka Ogoo-Ali, and has refused to step down for the wife of a former national chairman of the PDP, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, in spite of several entreaties from the Party hierarchy in Abuja.

Although the official position from the State executive is that the postponement of the Delta North Senatorial primary was a simple directive from the national headquarters of the party in Abuja, a high ranking state party official revealed to XCLUSIVE Magazine that it was postponed because of Nwaoboshi’s threat against the Project Obuh. Our source said it was a last throw of the political dice to keep the stubborn and arrogant former state party chairman quiet until after the Governorship primaries tomorrow.

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