By Jim Derek
The game of politics is deep and it requires multifaceted strategies to drive goals and ambitions to fruition. Reading political events in the pages of newspapers and online does not provide the deep answers required to succeed in prosecuting electioneering matters.
Yes, political gladiators and their supporters are free to engage in all form of permutations and calculations but what is important is the ability to bring all stakeholders together to achieve what needs to be achieved.
It’s not all about blame game but facing reality, and the reality in the instant case is that it does not make any reasonable political sense for Delta South to hand over power to Delta North and Delta North hands over power back to Delta South. It is unthinkable at this time, constitution or no constitution. It won’t just pass a commonsense or political test.
Olorogun Felix Ibru did not become governor of Delta State under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; NO. And he did not govern the State for two tenure eight years. His tenure was rudely interrupted by the military cabal.
It must be stated that the power rotation within PDP started in 1999, and not during the short tenure of Ibru, who was never a member of PDP. Members of the PDP who subscribed to DC-23 agreed not to accept Deputy Governorship offers because it is strongly believed that Delta Central will produce PDP governorship candidate in 2023, which is why the Deputy slot must of a necessity go to another Senatorial District in the state. This is it.
Prof Sam Oyovbaire did not say that eligible Deltans should not aspire to govern the state in 2023. No. What DC-23 decided was that PDP members in Delta Central who believe that the district should produce the party candidate in 2023, must not accept deputy governorship offers, period and unequivocal.
DC-23 did not stop eligible Deltans from running for the office of governor in 2023. Therefore those quoting Prof Sam Oyovbaire out of contest must be told that PDP Delta recognises power rotation and there are several electioneering campaign statements on video and audio tapes that truly confirmed that the party had not repudiated the power rotation agreement.
The idea of power rotation is anchored on equity and good conscience, such that both the minority and majority will have the opportunity to govern the state, and it had been so since 1999 and still counting.
The substance of the process of rotation is far beyond aspirants. Aspirants may flood the field but the party structures will always respect power rotation, and it is achieved through multifaceted strategies, including using some of the aspirants to achieve the power rotation agreement.
The idea of castigating people for contesting goes to no issue because what is important is that those aspirants who went against the party’s power rotation by contesting never won. They aspired but could not overrun party structures and the enviable tactics of the founding fathers of the party, the musketeers.
Party is supreme and will always be supreme, 2023 will not be different. DC will produce the governor in 2023, based on the party’s power rotation agreement. The government will be all-inclusive; North, South and Central shall come together to form Exco and provide good governance from where governor Okowa will stop in 2023.
The way of PDP Delta is power rotation, and no matter the number of aspirants, no matter how wealthy they are, the party will always do the needful to sustain power rotation, because that is the only way we can stay united, the weak and the strong.
It will not be different in 2023, PDP will have her way and shall produce another governor, and that the governor will come from Delta Central. What is however not clear is the local government in Delta Central that will produce the party candidate cum governor in 2023.
Let’s not bother ourselves over who will be the governor because it is too early in the day to pin down a particular fellow. However, there are strong aspirants and there are weak aspirants; in terms of popularity, human relations, accessibility, decorum and political relevance cum marketability. In all of these, the party through delegates will certainly produce the party’s governorship candidate in 2022, and that candidate will certainly come from Delta Central Senatorial District.
Prof Oyovbaire’s political permutations and statements are perfectly in order and in tandem with the PDP power rotation agreement in Delta State. For the records, Chief Great Ogboru who had a long legal battle with former Governor of Delta State, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, is not a PDP member, Olorogun Otega Emerhor is not a PDP member.
In 2015, prominent members of PDP in Delta North, Delta Central and Delta South ran against the incumbent governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, but the party structures and musketeers including former Governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, ensured that Delta North got the slot in line with the power rotation agreement. Governor Okowa won the party primaries, won the election and was returned unopposed in 2019. No PDP aspirants in Delta Central and South in 2019. It must be sustained.
Let me state it clearly one more time that aspirants are free to exercise their constitutional rights but PDP structures and the musketeers will always ensure that the power rotation is sustained. They know how to go about it. From all indications billionaire members of the party may not be able to upturn the power rotation agreement. It is a system thing and we must remain united under this noble unwritten agreement.
Power rotation is not based on ethnic or tribal considerations, it is based on senatorial district. It is therefore misleading for anybody to preach tribal or ethnicity issues as far as PDP power rotation is concerned in Delta State.
Whether or not It will be the turn of Isoko or Ijaw, is a matter to be decided by the party structure in Delta South when it is their turn after Delta Central in 2031. In the same vein, Delta central will decide on which local government will produce the party candidate in 2022 and subsequently becomes the governor of Delta in 2023.
One Delta, One People.
