Gov Okowa to Decamp to APC

If the whispers coming from the inner circles of the government house Asaba and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State is anything to be believed, then Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa may be leaving the PDP for All Progressives Congress (APC) very soon.

A very close aide to the governor, who disclosed this to XCLUSIVE MAGAZINE on condition of anonymity, said that Governor Okowa appears to be waiting for the supreme court judgement on the gubernatorial case brought by Labour Party Candidate Chief Great Ogboru and Olorogun O’tega Emerhor of the APC and the PDP 2016 congress to make the move. This, he also confirmed, is to give a legal basis for the Governor to justify his action.

Our very credible source cheekily said that the Governor of the oil-rich Delta State can at present be referred to as “a APPDPC (All Progressive People Democratic Party Congress) Governor,” owing to his antecedents of anti-party activities and body language to the APC-led federal government.

The source further made reference to the neutral kind of congratulatory message Okowa sent to Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State. While other PDP Governors /leaders publicly lambasted the APC-led Government for using the military to intimidate would-be voters prior to the elections conducted especially in southern Ijaw LGA, Okowa’s message was somewhat placatory.

It is evident that Okowa’s advanced plan to join APC is the most closely guarded secret in Delta State, as many PDP members in the State are not in the loop for now. When contacted for confirmation of Okowa’s secret plan to decamp, a highly place PDP chieftain in Delta State, who does not want to be named, tells XCLUSIVE MAGAZINE that he has not seen any such sign yet, but insists that nothing is impossible in politics.

“Everything is possible in politics, but no sign of it now. Even if it’s true, it may not be soon, and certainly Okowa will not decamp alone because the PDP structure will have to go with him, and that will include Senator Peter Nwaoboshi’s group and Chief James Ibori’s group in the State.”

Another PDP bigwig in the State expresses similar view, but she, however, dismisses the likelihood of Senator Nwaoboshi jumping ship with Governor Okowa. Her main argument is that Barrister Nwaoboshi and Gov Okowa are in salient struggle over the control of the party structure in Delta North and are not as close as they appear in public.

“Okowa’s position as the governor and a former senator appears to have given him an edge over Nwaoboshi in terms of who has the upper hand in the Delta North. Consider also that Okowa currently enjoys very close relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari. While Nwaoboshi hobnobs with the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, whom President Buhari perceives as a very corrupt person and a cog in the wheel of progress in his fight against corruption,” he insists.

Attempts to contact Governor Okowa and his Commissioner of Information, Mr Patrick Ukah, met with no success.