Delta 2027: Why I told Omo-Agege not to challenge Gov Oborevwori, by Senator Nwaoboshi

By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South, and Ochuko Akuopha

Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta and an All Progressives Congress (APC) leader in Delta State, has accused some persons in the Presidency of ganging-up against the former leader of the party in the state, the gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 elections and a former Deputy Senate President (DSP), Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

Nwaoboshi, popularly known as Oracle, told Sunday Vanguard in an interview that the persons he vowed to expose have prevented Omo-Agege from getting anything from the present government. He said, as a brother and an older politician, he had advised Omo-Agege not to scramble for the gubernatorial ticket of the party with the incumbent Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, who is the new leader of the Delta APC, because it is difficult to win against a sitting governor.

The party chieftain disclosed that Omo-Agege discussed his concerns with him, and he (Nwaoboshi) had met with Oborevwori and urged him to address the issues the former DSP raised. Excerpts:

When you recently visited Governor Sheriff Oborevwori at the Government House, Asaba, you said his joining the APC is a game-changer. But your friend, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, is gunning for the 2027 ticket. How is Oborevwori a game-changer?

Omo-Agege, to the best of my knowledge, is not running for the governorship under the platform of APC in 2027. I have advised him as a senior brother and someone older than him in the game of politics. I have told him he cannot run if he remains in the APC and the governor remains in the APC. He cannot win the party’s primary, and it will be difficult for him to win the election. I have had private meetings with him and apprised him of my position. When Chief James Ibori was governor, he ran for a second term; nobody challenged him in the primary. When Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan ran for a second term, no aspirant challenged him, and when Senator Ifeanyi Okowa ran for a second term, nobody challenged him. I am talking about the party primary. It is difficult for him to change the system when a sitting governor is running for a second term. I have advised him, and I don’t think so based on my personal meeting with him, our former governor, Ibori, and other leaders.

But he is contemplating running against Oborevwori for the ticket…

That he is contemplating running against the governor—anybody who is telling you that is not telling you the truth. However, I may not know if he changed his mind yesterday or two days ago. I also know what he is thinking about, and I have had the privilege of discussing it with the governor.

I told him that we need peace. He is the father of the whole state; he should bring everybody together, and he has promised me that. I don’t think Omo-Agege, in his heart, unless he changed his mind two days ago. I have not spoken to him in the last two or three weeks. Unless he changed his mind. I don’t think, and I don’t want him to be blackmailed based on my discussion with him, for people to say that he is fighting the governor.

I don’t want that. His only concern, which he informed me on a few occasions, is that he needs to be recognised and accorded due respect as a former leader of the party in the state. You remember when people were challenging him then, and I said Omo-Agege is the leader of the party in the state. I challenged them to a debate because I have been around. He is a former Deputy Senate President. I remember when the former president, the late Muhammadu Buhari, brought Festus Keyamo (current Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development).

Festus Keyamo was in his office, but he came there daily. Of the two senators that APC had at the time, Omo-Agege contributed over 80 per cent to their being senators. He made them the party’s candidates. I said no, he is the leader of the party, but now, a governor has come in, and the governor becomes the leader.

There is a need for them to have interaction, and that has been my position. That is what I tell Omo-Agege, and that is what I informed the governor. Let us work together in peace.

Some people in the Presidency triggered the Delta APC controversy…

The problems, or what you would define as a crisis in the Delta APC before the governor came in, were caused by some people in the Presidency. The APC in Delta State was a united family until after the president won the election. There was no contest as to who was the leader of the party. It was some persons in the Presidency for personal reasons, whom I am ready to expose.

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