Social media and mainstream press have been deluged with a video in circulation titled: “SEN. NWAOBOSHI ON POWER ROTATION: I ‘M VERY DISAPPOINTED IN GOV. OKOWA”.
In the video interview, by an online medium, NOLS TV, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, angry-laden was gushing that Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa is averse to power rotation in the state and was bent on unilaterally choosing who to succeed him as governor in 2023. The senator went ahead to vow that he would go for broke to stop Okowa head-on.
One’s immediate reaction on watching the video was disbelief and bewilderment. The expectations by accepted standards of official courtesy and propriety is that Nwaoboshi as the Senator representing Delta North senatorial district, Okowa’s constituency, should have engaged the governor privately if he needed answers or clarifications on any issue. Honour and credit signpost the office of Governor.
Again, Senator is a distinguished toga. It is not a tacky title. Recourse to the public media space in addressing the Governor was certainly not the best option. The Senator need not have taken that part, no matter his mindset. He was too garish and hysterical for his office.
With subtle scepticism of the video and the intentions of Senator Nwaoboshi, one had an instant thought to shrug it all off for two reasons. First, for someone who is by nature wary of coarse tendency, I was not too enamoured to join issues with the Senator, given his ranking. Secondly, one believes it is most reasonable to be circumspect about sensitive political issues to avoid unnecessary distractions at this period when governor Okowa is gripped in executing his policy thrust of the SMART agenda towards an enduring legacy for the good of all Deltans.
However, as a conscientious media guard to Governor Okowa, one is morally bound to speak out on who he is and what he stands for, especially in the face of misrepresentation.
Contrary to the impression created by Senator Nwaoboshi, the governor is neither anti-power shift nor bent on picking his successor by executive fiat. Let me state without equivocation that such is not the musings of Governor Okowa. GOVERNOR OKOWA IS AN UNWAVERING ADVOCATE OF POWER ROTATION IN DELTA STATE.
The Governor is totally in support of power rotation. That is why he talks about equity, fairness and justice. Okowa stated this clearly at the cenotaph during a recent empowerment Programme organized by the member representing Aniocha / Oshimili in the House of Representatives and minority leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, where he gave assurance that the search for a governor come 2023 would be just and fair based on inclusive CONSULTATION among political leaders in the state. At various fora, the governor has said that he will sit down with the elders and consult widely for an acceptable PDP governorship candidate.
What Governor Okowa said in response to a question at the 2021 quarterly media parley with journalists at Asaba was that there was no written agreement as regards gentleman arrangement on power rotation in Delta state. That is so true. There is no documentary evidence to date on power rotation. Okowa’s sincere response is not a repudiation of power rotation. His statement does not in any way imply that he does not believe or support gentleman agreement on power shift. Power-sharing is the safest template for peace and cohesion in plural Delta. Okowa has been generally quoted out of context. The assertion by Senator Nwaoboshi in his incendiary video interview is misplaced.
Senator Nwaoboshi mentioned that he was involved as the champion of power rotation at the end of Chief James Ibori’s tenure in 2006. History is bare for the informed. We are witnesses of yesterday. Okowa was also a stakeholder deeply involved in the agitation for power rotation, which culminated in the emergence of Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan as Flagbearer of the PDP in 2006 and eventual election as governor on May 29th 2007.
Senator Nwaoboshi gleefully referred to the agitation as “ My struggle” with pompous airs. He personalized it, boasting of how he confronted Chief James Ibori who subsequently asked him to cease hostilities especially when they met at Benin Airport, Edo state. You accuse a man of plotting single handily to install a successor. But in the same breath, you are laying claim to sole effort in birthing power rotation in a complex state like Delta. Absurd.
The plain take is that Chief Nwaoboshi was never the initiator or arrowhead of power rotation. He was never the originator, he could not have been as claimed. It was a collective stirring by several political leaders in Delta including Okowa with Ibori as the prime mover. No. Not Senator Nwaoboshi. Playing to the gallery is not a good payoff as the signature tune of a Senator.
To describe Governor Okowa as a mere beneficiary of power rotation, according to Senator Nwaoboshi is, to say the least ungracious. Okowa remained a strong partaker and inspiration in the concept of power shift. That explained the circumstances of his central role in the 2006 PDP governorship primary where he emerged neck to neck with Dr Uduaghan. It is pertinent to note that despite several pressures to go for a re-run against Dr Uduaghan, when the primary became stalemated due to the absence of a clear winner, Okowa chose to work as Director-General of the PDP governorship campaign which enthroned the Itsekiri born Governor in 2007.
Senator Nwaoboshi spoke as if he knew it all. The oracular Alpha male. Where was he in 2006 when Okowa and Uduaghan were disqualified in Port Harcourt by PDP gubernatorial screening committee? Was he with them when the two friends left Port Harcourt by road at 5 pm to Abuja to meet up with the PDP governorship Appeal team? That same night both of them were cleared by the Appeal panel to contest the PDP primary and certificates were issued to them respectively. Other aspirants who showed up around 7 am after Okowa and Uduaghan had left were unlucky because the Appeal period had closed. That both men succeeded in the Abuja screening and Okowa would later back down in the race spoke poignantly about his fidelity to teamwork. This illumination is intended to show that Okowa was not just a pillar of power rotation but also a believer in strategic political partnership of life and let live for the sustenance of party strength.
He has always believed in mutual consultation and collective leadership from his local government area, the state and the national pedestal.
X raying Senator Nwaoboshi’s video Interview, even a casual watcher cannot take it beguiled. It was unsavoury.
It is safe to state that before commissioners were appointed under the Okowa administration he ensured widespread consultation. It is an open secret that Senator Nwaoboshi was a beneficiary. If Okowa was egocentric, Nwaoboshi would not have been on the benefitting chair.
Senator Nwaoboshi expended undeniable energy in the now-famous Anioma agenda that rallied Okowa to victory especially at the December 8, 2014, PDP Governorship primary as well as the 2015 election.Taken.Yet Governor Okowa’s goodwill to Nwaoboshi is taller by far.
If there is anyone to speak negatively about the governor, it should not be Senator Nwaoboshi.
We can all recall the selfless efforts Governor Okowa made to ensure that Nwaoboshi was elected senator in 2015. Even Nwaoboshi repeatedly proclaimed in campaign rallies that he was running the race under Okowa’s political influence given his matchless popularity across Delta North and all quarters in Delta. But for Okowa, Onicha -Olona man, Victor Ochei would have given Nwaoboshi a yawning defeat in the Delta North senatorial race.
The events of 2011 when Nwaoboshi with Mrs Mariam Alli ( wife of the PDP national chairman ) teamed in a futile face-off to stop Okowa from emerging Delta North Senator are just too vivid to forget. But did Okowa not rise above the ugly past in brotherly love for Nwaoboshi in 2015? What happened in 2019? Today the rest is history.
In 2023, Governor Okowa had said at every opportunity that his successor would emerge by consultation and consensus-based on the understanding of political leaders, the will of the people and the grace of God.No one can label Okowa a power monger. He is civil and people-centred without an authoritarian hue. He believes that power belongs to God. Ever conscious that only the Almighty will be the ultimate decider of the next governor of Delta.
But If anybody is thinking that Governor Okowa would fold his hands on who succeeds him, the person should think again. He is a winning politician by grit and grace. The Governor is standing strong in the frontline of the search for a successor. He will do it openly, boldly and fairly.
It bears plausible climax to assure Senator Nwaoboshi that Governor Okowa would not disappoint the custodians of the popular mandate that brought him to Power -Deltans.
CHIAZOR is a Media Aide To Governor Okowa.
