Uduaghan Hijacks Okowa’s Campaign Team, Funkekeme to Be Named Media Director

Barring any last minute change of plan, Solomon Funkekeme, the State Commissioner for Works is to be named Media and Publicity Director by the Delta State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. On the list of his Campaign Team that he is about to release. Other members of the media team are Jonathan as the Deputy Director and Barrister Eugene Uzum, Okowa’s ICT man in his campaign team, who is set to retain his position.

XCLUSIVE Magazine can authoritatively report that the list drawn out by State PDP is already raising some dust. The main issue tearing Okowa’s Campaign team apart right now is the handing over the headship of the media team to Solomon Funkekeme, who has no media background or experience. And in Funkekeme, it is alleged that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who many in the State thought was dead and buried politically, has resurrected to take full control of Okowa’s Campaign structure.

A source confided in XCLUSIVE Magazine that it is a fatal mistake for Okowa to allow an Uduaghan’s core loyalist to be in charge of a campaign structure as important as the Directorate of Media and Publicity, and that Uduaghan might have forced Funkekeme on Okowa to give his opponent, who has stronger media team, the media advantage, and by implication weakens the entire Okowa’s campaign structure.

Uduaghan, it is common knowledge, never supported Okowa’s governorship aspiration, and had worked openly and assiduously against Okowa by his open endorsements and supports of Mr Tony Obuh up to the late stages of the primaries, and David Edebvie three days before the primary elections proper.

Another dust being raised by the yet-to-be-released Campaign team list is that all Okowa’s core loyalists, men and women who had laid their lives during his campaign during the primaries, seem to have either been schemed out completely or left in the fringes. One of the notable names missing on the list is Okowa’s Campaign DG, Rt. Hon. Festus Agas.

Another notable name missing on the list is Dr Kingsley Emu, Okowa’s ally. It is on record that he was sacked by Governor Uduaghan as Commerce and Industry Commissioner because he was too loyal to Okowa and was the only serving Commissioner then who attended Okowa’s declaration. However, it seems Dr Emu has been adequately compensated at the federal level. He was listed as Officer II in the Directorate of Admin and Logistic Department of Jonathan’s campaign team.

Those systematically relegated from the top command structure, but to work from the fringes, are the fiery journalist Fejiro Oliver and a leading online group for Okowa, Deltans Diaspora. We understand that they will still be named in the team when the full list is eventually released.

XCLUSIVE Magazine gathered on good authority that their being dropped down the pecking order is not unconnected with the way they viciously kicked Obuh and Edevbie out during the primaries. And with Uduaghan’s man now in control of Okowa’s media structure, it is looking like a payback time.

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