It is a fact that power can literally “go to one’s head,” causing individuals to think they have more personal control over the outcomes of phenomena around them than they do, this illusion of power is what sparks individuals in positions of authority to act with impunity and disloyal to a superior authority.
The most common traits among these persons are the privileged position they occupy at a time, which exposes them to unlimited access to public funds. So with powers and deep pockets, these individuals think they can challenge God to a contest.
It goes that in 2014, a group bearing the name DELTA UNITED, led by an Itsekiri chief, Akulagba1, Chief Ayiri Emami, took Delta PDP by storm when it announced that it has adopted late Sir Tony Obuh of blessed memory, as its candidate for the 2015 governorship election.
They vowed to deliver him to Government House, Asaba. They claimed that they have the mandate of the party leadership, the then Governor Uduaghan to embark on the project, Uduaghan initially denied his involvement in the saga, but later succumb to the pressure of the group and decided to play along with them but events that occurred two days to the 2014 PDP guber primary, showed that Uduaghan was not committed to the group’s idea.
However, the activities of the group provoked severe reactions from some sections of Delta PDP, who questioned the effrontery of Ayiri and his cohorts to impose a candidate on the party, the rest of the story is now history.
Fast forward to 2022, another Itsekiri Chief and convener of DELTA POLITICAL VANGUARD, Chief Dcn Hon. Michael Diden, aka Ejele, Tuesday 15 March, while addressing members of DPV during a meeting of the group, boastfully told Deltans that DPV has adopted Sheriff Oborevwori, the speaker of Delta State House of Assembly as its candidate for the 2023 governorship election.
Like Ayiri, he vowed that the group will deliver Sheriff to Government House Asaba in 2023.
Considering the relationship between the group and Governor Okowa, some persons were quick to assume that the group has the backing of the Governor while others claimed that the group acted on their own based on the fact that Governor Okowa had during the PDP Mega Rally of January 22nd, promised that he will provide a level playing field for all the aspirants in the governorship race during the party’s primary.
However, a cross-section of the PDP leadership from parts of the state has continued to tongue-lash Ejele and his group for attempting to put the governor in the box.
Recall that DPV in its earlier meetings has resolved that WHERE OKOWA GO, THEY WILL FOLLOW, leading to the trending hashtag #whereokowagowego. What is intriguing here is why the group decided to put the cart before the horse?
Whatever angle one may look at the whole scenario, one thing is clear, which is that Ejele’s DPV tactic has similar trapping with the tactic of Ayiri’s DU. The two groups were made up of privileged individuals who enjoys juicy appointments and contracts from the government of the day, to the extent that they became so obsessed with power and therefore decided to exert their will on their bosses and forced an aspirant on them to remain in power.
Thank God we are in a democracy where the minority has a say and the majority have their way. We should stop heating the polity but allow PDP delegates to elect the party’s governorship flag bearer.
So, when my good friend, the Pen Eagle wrote that Delta State is Sherriffied, I laughed because I knew that at a time in 2014, Obuhphobia wind was blowing across Delta State.
Credit: James Aghoghovbia
