The Special Adviser to the former Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, on strategy and communication, Hon. Godwin Anaughe, has reiterated Omo-Agege’s condemnation of the removal of Hon. Collins Egbetamah, the member representing Udu Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, describing the development as “the theft of a mandate” and “a coup against the people of Udu.”
In a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday, Hon. Godwin Anaughe faulted the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for defending Egbetamah’s removal, describing the action as unconstitutional and insisting that the lawmaker was unlawfully deprived of his seat without due process.
Recall that the Delta State Chapter of APC, in a statement, alleged that Omo-Agege was allegedly misleading Deltans on the controversial removal of the lawmaker, and in a swift reaction to the allegations, Anaughe stated that the removal was neither constitutional nor democratic.
According to the statement, Egbetamah, who was elected on the APC platform in the 2023 general election after defeating the PDP candidate, Chief Jite Brown, was allegedly targeted because he refused to betray the APC before Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori eventually joined the party.
The statement reads: “The Office of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, CFR, The Obarisi of Urhoboland, will not mince words. The Delta APC’s attempt to justify the illegal removal of Hon. Collins Egbetamah from the Delta House of Assembly is shameful. There is no law here. Only insults. Only reckless excuses for a lawless act.
“The Obarisi isn’t going to sugarcoat this as politics. What we are seeing is a coup against the people of Udu. To Delta APC and your web of lies: Senator Omo-Agege is not the one misleading anyone. You are. That is a deliberate and reckless falsehood. A man elected by the people has been ousted without charge, trial, or hearing. That is not lawmaking. That is illegality. It is the theft of a mandate. If Delta APC thinks The Obarisi will back down before a party drunk on power, trying to silence the true voices of Udu’s people, you are wrong. He will not back down.
“Let’s lay out the facts. In 2023, Hon. Egbetamah of the APC defeated Chief Jite Brown of the PDP, the party of then-candidate Sheriff Oborevwori. Udu made its choice. Udu had its say. This removal has nothing to do with the Constitution.
“And this isn’t a new game. For two long years, before Governor Sheriff Oborevwori defected to the APC, they left Hon. Egbetamah in the lurch. No salaries, no allowances, no constituency project funds—nothing at all. What was his crime? Simply refusing to turn his back on the APC. He stood his ground. Now that the power dynamics have shifted, they’re trying to finish what they started by snatching away his mandate.
“That was the plan. Then came the attack. Udu was completely sidelined. No heads-up, no notice. Just one hurried session in Asaba, and their right to representation was yanked away. Did Delta APC really expect The Obarisi to cheer on a heist against his own people? Not a chance.
“That voice vote did not uphold the Constitution. It buried it. In seconds, they robbed Udu of its voice. No hearing. No court ruling. No recall. No resignation. Nothing. That is how you kill representation without leaving fingerprints. Yet the Delta APC media team wants to lecture us. The Party has reduced itself to an errand boy for the government, running errands instead of defending the law. That is not the standard Late Senator Pius Ewherido lived by. We remember.
“We will not be quiet, because silence here is complicity. Udu’s mandate was killed by a cowardly voice vote. One session. No chance for Hon. Egbetamah to defend himself. No chance to face the allegations. No chance to claim his rights as a Nigerian. That is not justice. That is theft with a gavel.
“So let’s talk law, since Delta APC pretends to care about it. The Party keeps hiding behind Section 109(1)(g) like it is the only law in the book. But what about Section 36? The Constitution guarantees every Nigerian a fair hearing before anything is taken away. That is basic. Courts have affirmed it repeatedly. You cannot remove an elected man. You cannot kill a person’s mandate without hearing. The House knows this. It chose to obey political orders instead.
“And the facts expose them. If the case was so strong, why the rush? Why no hearing? Why a voice vote instead of a recorded vote? How was the result known before it began? Because it was fixed. That is tyranny, not a procedure.
“If there had been a real hearing, Hon. Egbetamah, a lawyer, would have spoken. He would have shown that the party division applies. The House feared that truth. So it skipped due process. That is not governance. That is a political hit job in a legislative robe.
“Senator Omo-Agege has been here before. They tried to remove him from the Senate too, acting as if power put them above the law. He stood. He won. Because Nigeria’s courts, at their best, will not be used for political vendetta. That is why this fight is not over.
“So The Obarisi will not sit by while Hon. Egbetamah and Udu are treated this way. He rejects it. Udu must reject it too. You do not lose your representative because a few people found your vote inconvenient. That is wrong. That is ungodly.
“To Delta APC, hear this clearly: You cannot break the Constitution and then quote it. You cannot destroy due process and then speak of rule of law. You should have obeyed the Constitution before the gavel fell in Asaba. You did not. Now you will answer for it. In court. In public opinion. And at the ballot.
“Let the record stand: Udu voted for Hon. Collins Egbetamah. A faction removed him illegally to break Udu’s spirit. Senator Omo-Agege stands against it. The Urhobo Nation stands against it. And the people of Udu, mothers, fathers, traders, students, youths, and elders who stood in line to vote, reject it. This oppression is not Urhobo. Our history rejects it.
“Senator Omo-Agege stands with Udu. Their mandate is sacred. Their voice will not die. Political bullying of the Udu people must not stand. Udu is not a conquered land. History will remember everyone who treated it as one on June 30, 2026. Including every collaborator.”
