A stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ide Tony Nwaka, has called on prominent party members Ovie Omo-Agege and Festus Keyamo to put aside their differences and embrace peace for the greater good of the party.
Highlighting the importance of unity in strengthening the APC’s political influence, Nwaka, who was the APC House of Representatives candidate for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency in the 2023 elections, urged both leaders to sheath their swords and focus on fostering collaboration rather than discord.
The appeal comes on Sunday January 26, 2025, in a post amidst escalating tensions between the two figures, which many fear could undermine the party’s stability and future prospects.
See details below 👇
MY POSITION ON THE SCHEDULED VISIT OF H.E. SENATOR OVIE OMO-AGEGE TO DELTA NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT, AND RELATED MATTERS.
Since the publication of my name among Delta North stakeholders who are disposed to the forthcoming visit of H.E. Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, former Deputy Senate President, numerous friends and political associates who know my natural aversion to party factions have been calling me to know if I now belong to one of the contending groups in Delta State APC.
Permit me to say that, though I didn’t know that my private expression of willingness to attend the meeting would be publicised in this form, I honestly hold no grudge about it. And this is because I am of the conviction that the tour is significant on many fronts. At least, if not in the former DSP’s position as the APC gubernatorial candidate, who led us to the excruciating political battle of 2023, the current disputations in the party make it even more apposite that we receive him to hear his side of the story. While he may have had his flaws or missteps, it is logical and, indeed morally expedient, that we give ear to someone whose leadership yielded spectacularly unprecedented results in the history of opposition politics in Delta State,
I hear that the manner of scheduling the tour may have breached certain procedures, and incurred the displeasure of some authorities. If truly those legitimate channels were ignored, then it is sad and regrettable. It really shouldn’t be so. But I think that some infractions should be overlooked in pursuit of the greater good, more so in the current discomforting climate the party has found itself. I am inclined to believe that no member of Delta State APC, who is genuinely desirous of the progress of the party, would stand idly by and watch the subsisting conflictual relationships among the leaders escalate to unmanageable proportions.
Thankfully, I had in the last few weeks communicated my position on the state of things, separately, to the former DSP and Senator Peter Nwaoboshi. Nwaoboshi, himself a consummate politician of distinguished organisational pedigree. My pleas were essentially about forgiveness, inclusiveness, and consolidation.
We cannot be disunited and hope to dislodge a PDP that has been on ground since 1999, with a sitting governor and at least one member in each ward of the state drawing resources from government, either as councillor, council chairman, board chairman or member, SA, SSA, Special Adviser, Commissioner, state and national Assembly member. I expect that a consciousness of this reality should draw our attention to the enormity of the task ahead, and the compelling need for us to close ranks and forge a common force.
I refuse to believe that Delta State APC, a party with a former deputy senate president, serving and former senators, serving and former ministers, serving and former members of the house of representatives, three former speakers of the state house of assembly, former house of assembly members, former secretary to state government and former commissioners, former ALGON and local government chairmen, and councilors cannot come together to activate a potent political machine, whose exploits would resound across the nation. It can’t be. If na juju, e no go work. I nullify it in Jesus Name.
Accordingly, I humbly appeal to the two arrow heads of the opposing tendencies to sheathe their swords and work together for the sake of our teeming party faithful, who have anchored their fortunes on the prospects of the party’s victories. H.E. Ovie Omo-Agege, the quintessential politician and grassroots General of incomparable grit, and Hon. Festus Keyamo, SAN, a two-time minister of the federal republic. A man of radiant national presence and proven competence in statecraft. Delta APC can’t have you two and slide into an object of derision by our traducers. You must now take the bull by the horns and sit like brothers to redefine proceedings.
May I state too, for those who hold the view that Delta North betrayed the APC in the Guber election of 2023, that the impression is erroneous. Indeed, after the devastation (or should I even say evisceration) caused by the Obidient movement in the national elections, we returned to the drawing board in Delta North and, despite the humongous funds deployed by the PDP, where they practically emptied the treasury, we were still able to deliver some units and wards for our candidate, H.E. Omo-Agege. If I don’t know about other places, at least I can state ex-cathedra that APC won in my unit 10, and also my Ward 2 of Aniocha South LGA in the 2023 Guber polls. PDP never lost those two places since 1999. But it happened this time. I’ve simply referenced it, just to put things in context.
Therefore, having achieved this unprecedented success with the unified strength of my fellow APC kinsmen in my unit and ward, God forbids that I now begin to take sides with one APC leader against another, or belong in a faction to undermine the interests of other members of the party, simply because they do not agree with my perspectives and perceptions. Politics is a theater of conflicting expectations. It is the duty of its leadership to harmonize the disparities. But when the leadership itself is fractured, it becomes a tragedy of compelling introspection.
Just as I proudly attended the Delta North senatorial meeting recently hosted by Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, I will also gladly honor a meeting summoned by His Excellency Senator Ovie Omo-Agege or any other major leader of the party. And for those who may not know, let me put on record that Hon. Victor Ochei impressively held the fort in the absence of Senator Nwaoboshi, hosting strategic meetings and giving tremendous personal financial support to us, the candidates of the party, preparatory to the 2023 elections. And, his speech a few weeks ago when he hosted the party was profoundly conciliatory. He preached inclusiveness and pledged to attend the meetings called by other leaders in any chosen location. That should be the spirit in these challenging times. Of course, I have my reservations about certain things. I have my preferences. Indeed, if I were to recall my experiences in the last election, I would be in the vanguard of discontent against one or two orientations. But we must let bygones be bygones, and move with the spirit of family and solidarity.
Staying away from, or asking party members to shun party gatherings, is not my ideal approach to reconciliation and capacity building. Our ultimate objective should be to unify and not to further diversify. And we can only achieve unity when we sit, as a people with mutual progressive ideals, to evaluate and harmonize our choices.
So, in the final analysis, I appeal to every APC faithful in Delta North to honor the scheduled local government tour of our Guber candidate, in the wider interest of our party APC; while hoping that it would not only serve as an opportunity to express our views about the current happenings in the party, but also as a reminder that it is self-defeatist, and indeed could be a boomerang of sorts, to discourage party members from attending any party gathering summoned by fellow leaders whose views may not quite align with yours.
We cannot continue to dig into our personal grounds and be firing from fortified trenches to the detriment of party cohesion. As the popular canon goes, ‘compromise is the lifeblood of the political process.’ Every leader has his or her peculiar strength. Let’s unite as brothers and sisters, and mobilize our joint firepower to the success of our great party, APC.
Thank you and best regards.
Ide Tony F.E. Nwaka, PhD.
APC House of Representatives candidate for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency in the 2023 elections.
