By Patrick Ochei
Veteran politician and one-time Commissioner for Environment in Delta State, Engr. Omeni Sobotie has been inaugurated as the Delta State Chairman of APC in a well-attended ceremony at the APC State Secretariat on Anwai Road in Asaba, the state capital.
The inauguration which took on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, saw Sobotie being sworn in alongside the state Secretary, Mr Nick Ovuakporie and other elected members of the State Working Committee of the party.
Speaking at the inauguration, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege congratulated Sobotie for emerging APC State Chairman, adding that he is not just a party leader but an activist in the struggle for a bigger and better party.
He said though he was there to celebrate with the newly sworn-in Chairman, he also has a task to remind him that there is more work to do.
According to DSP Omo-Agege, “We must heat the ground running. I know the battle you went through to get to this position, however, you must get ready to still fight to keep your victory by extending your hand of fellowship to others who didn’t support your emergence. We must put our differences aside to bring everybody on board, because the contest has come and gone, and this is a new beginning.
“Our goal is to defeat Governor Okowa and whoever he is planning to impose on Delta State. Let me tell you that it is the people of Delta State that will determine who their next Governor must be.
“It is a battle this time, we must chase them out of Government House in 2023. There is no trick in the book they are privy to that we are not also privy to. I congratulate those who went to the PDP as a result of that kangaroo rally they did recently. Those are Achans as referred to in the bible and we are glad to get rid of them. However, if they later repent and decide to come back, we will still forgive them and work with them”, Omo-Agege posited.
For the member representing Delta North Senatorial District and former Chairman of PDP in Delta State, Senator Nwaoboshi, it was all battle-ready posture as he was more categorical on how he would defeat the PDP in 2023, maintaining that the rumour that he would return to PDP can only remain a rumour. He said he can never go back to his vomit, stressing that he can never go back to the PDP.
His words, “The battle for us now is to defeat PDP and chase them out of Delta State. I do not have the intention of going back to PDP, but I have the intention of defeating PDP in Delta State. The battle line has been drawn; we will not use arms but if need be, then we don’t have a choice.
“Let me tell you that this battle is for the next generation of politicians to benefit. I have played my part as a politician; I cannot be a Commissioner again, I cannot be an Adviser again, I cannot hold any political appointment or position again in Delta. However, I can be proud to be known as a friend of the Governor.
“That is why I am supporting Senator Ovie Omo-Agege because he is the next Governor of Delta State. This is a man who has played a high wired politics as Secretary to Delta State Government and is now the number five (5) citizen in the country. What else are we looking for in a Governor? He has it all and he knows it all.
“So my fellow party men, don’t let them deceive you, there is no secret of PDP we don’t know. There is no rigging plan in Delta State that I don’t know about or that Omo-Agege does not know. We are equal to them and this is just the end of the road for them. And that is why I congratulate my brother and friend, Chief Omeni Sobotie, a juggernaut of no mean repute, who has a task to guide us to victory in 2023”, Nwaoboshi affirmed.
The new APC chairman, Sobotie appreciated everybody who came to celebrate with him and his new team of leaders in APC Delta State.
He assured party faithful that indeed peace has returned to APC in Delta State, promising to leverage on the goodwill and mandate of his victory to reconcile every member for the task ahead.
