Patrick Ukah & David Edevbie

Okowa Nominates 8 Commissioners, Ukah Makes List as We Told You!

Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa will any moment from now officially submit a list of eight commissioner-nominees to the State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation as commissioners. Top on the list is Patrick Ukah from Oshimili North.

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We told you in our exclusive report on 27 July 2015 that Okowa was set to Appoint Ukah as Commissioner from Oshimili North. New information available to us is that the Okpanam-born sports administrator is being considered for either Commissioner for Lands, Survey & Urban Development or Information.

Also listed is David Edevbie, who contested the State governorship primaries with Okowa. This is not the first time that Governor Okowa will be co-opting into his cabinet someone who slugged it out with him in the governorship race. Recently, he appointed Chief Clement Ofuani as the Director-General of Asaba Capital Territory Development Agency, the agency saddled with development and upgrading Asaba, the Delta State capital and its territories. However, unlike Edevbie who gave Okowa a run for his money with 299 votes to come second, Ofuani was in the also-ran category, as he managed miserly 7 votes in the primary elections.

Another nominee is Jude Sinebe, the son of Captain Pius Sinebe who was snubbed by Okowa as his deputy governor. The Senior Sinebe was already pencilled down by Okowa as his running mate, but reneged on the plan at the last minute after intense pressure from Chief Government Ekpemukpolo, the former militant commander in the Niger Delta popularly known as Tompolo, who insisted that it must be Kingsley Otuaro as his running mate or no one else. An insider source revealed to Xclusive Magazine that Okowa’s nomination of the junior Sinebe as commissioner is to compensate his father for that unmitigated snub.

Other nominees are Dan Okenyi, former clerk of Delta State House of Assembly; Dr Henry Sakpra, former Chairman of the Udu LGA; Mofe Pirah, former commissioner for Oil and Gas; Hon Asupa Foteta, former Senior Special Assistant to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan on Security Matters and Ossai Peter Chika from Ndokwa East and a former member of Delta State House of Assembly.

Conspicuously missing on the list is a commissioner from Oshimili South LG. Xclusive Magazine gathered on good and credible authority that Oshimili South is still proving difficult because the son of Asagba of Asaba, Chief Chike Edozien, who is being considered by Okowa as a “thank you” for the Anioma traditional rulers support for Okowa led by Asagba, appears not to be the popular choice of the stakeholders from that Local Government. Okowa is now said to have delayed the commissioner slot for Oshimili South LG in order to buy enough time to prevail on the opposition to back down.

In addition to the twelve commissioners sworn in on 3 July 2015, these eight new commissioner-nominees when eventually sworn-in, plus commissioner from Oshimili South whose nomination is already in the pipeline, will bring the total number of Okowa’s commissioners to 21. On paper this is the final Commissioners list, as Governor Okowa is under pressure to significantly reduce the number of his commissioners, as obtainable in many States. However, a political insider source told Xclusive Magazine that because of the intricate nature of Delta State politics, the governor will most likely appoint five more commissioners in the coming month.

According to the reliable political insider, who pleaded anonymity: “The reality on the ground is that no Local Government will concede to give up their slot. The tradition in the state is that a commissioner must come from each of the 25 Local Governments in the State. 20 of these LGs have now got their slots. It is expected that the remaining 5 LGs must get their due.”