‘Tinubu is my number one project’ and ‘Obi is my candidate’ row rages
By Egufe Yafugborhi
A crossfire between Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege reignites 2023 rivalry for the soul of Delta State in the 2027 general elections.
The political landscape of Delta State has been set ablaze ahead of the 2027 general elections. At the heart of the heated atmosphere are two usual suspects, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and former Deputy Senate President, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege. In dramatic alignment of rivalries, Oborevwori had defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the very party he defeated in 2023.
His new priority is to do all it takes to win Delta in 2027 for the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate he fiercely fought in 2023. In a twist of fate, the governor’s arch-rival, Omo-Agege, got embittered that Delta APC with Oborevwori, as leader, abandoned his organic support system and alienated him.
Defecting to the new Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Omo-Agege has fully aligned self with Peter Obi. Against Oborevwori’s “No threat to Delta APC”, the development preempts a fiercer rivalry in the 2027 polls for Delta. In excerpts from the recent crossfire, the two Urhobo political titans trade heavy blows.
2027 Threat & Defection Twist
Oborevwori: “He (Omo-Agege) is not a threat because I’ve won him before.” “We saw it coming. Before he left, all his people had left over three months ago”.
“He was not serious in the contest of the primaries. He never consulted anybody… APC is a big party. Even myself as governor, I met with people to say, ‘Look, I want to go back for my second tenure, please’. But he never did that”.
“Somebody that we did a free and fair primary with, and he lost… He is not somebody that can be trusted. Ovie Omo-Agege came into politics in 2002 with nothing. The state made him”.
“The people that made him, he fought them. He betrayed James Ibori. He betrayed Great Ogboru. He betrayed O’tega Emerhor. So if he says he wants to betray me, he’s not a threat.”
Omo-Agege: “The governor panicked, chickened out, and ran into the APC.”
“In the 2023 general elections, the APC that I led won two Senate seats in Delta State out of three. “In Delta Central District, where the governor and I both come from, I won a total of 115,245 votes while the governor managed to pull in 100,089 votes… Over 15,000 of the people who know us best gave me more votes than the governor.”
“When Governor Sheriff saw mass decampment to APC he panicked, chickened out, and ran into the APC to join me. If Sheriff believed I was not a threat, why didn’t he stay back in the PDP and take me on in 2027?
“They came in and basically wiped out everyone who fought to give the President the votes he had in 2023…” “They are scared of me, and they have every reason to be scared.”
On N3.15 Trillion Collected in Three Years
Oborevwori: “First time in history, no contractor is being owed.”
“Where we came in, it was a bit tough. We had to start planning in line with the M.O.R.E Agenda… “There is no Local Government in Delta State we’ve not touched in terms of road projects.
“We look at infrastructure, some of the roads people thought were impossible… Effurun Roundabout, DSC Roundabout, PTI Junction.”
“When sometimes we do commissioning and I tell people we have money, where is it coming from? It’s the reforms… For any contract we’re giving out, the money is already there”.
“We don’t do cash budgets on a monthly basis. You provide a certificate, in one week we pay. Even as our right as the highest oil-producing state, some people say you’re keeping money in the Central Bank. Which money? We’re keeping money for contractors, for jobs we owe them.”
Omo-Agege: “An empty suit… clueless in governance.”
“The mere fact that you were declared a governor by itself is not enough. You must show why you were elected. Show what policies you have that will ameliorate conditions of the people… instead of one who is just an empty suit.”
“Despite the receipt of over N3.15 trillion in three years, he has nothing on the ground in Delta State other than three or four flyovers—as if flyovers are what governance is about”.
“Despite this receipt, we have about N750 billion of state funds sitting idle in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) because this governor is just clueless and doesn’t know what to do with the money… while Delta oil communities still live in darkness.”
On the Presidential Alliances (Tinubu VS Obi)
Oborevwori: “Tinubu is an in-law here… it would be evil to vote against him.
“Bola Ahmed Tinubu, among candidates that will emerge, is the only one that has affiliation with Delta State. The man is an in-law here. It will be evil to vote against your in-law. It’s a family affair… No Itsekiri person will vote against Tinubu. No Urhobo man would want to vote against Tinubu because their son is governor.”
“I’m begging people to vote for President Tinubu. He’s my number one project. That project is bigger than any other project, so that the burden I’m carrying will be light for me… Once we deliver him, we will go and tell him, ‘Baba, this is what we need.’ And he will do it for us.”
Omo-Agege:
“My presidential candidate in 2027 is Peter Obi.”
“I never left the APC. The APC left me and my over 240,000 supporters in Delta State… Now that I’ve moved to the NDC, you can take it to the bank that my loyalty to the party and the presidential candidate (Peter Obi) will be total.”
“When Mr. President came up with economic policies—most especially naira floatation and subsidy removal—these were policies I supported. But those same policies were also supported by Peter Obi”.
“I just believe that under the new platform, these policies will continue, and the majority of Nigerians will feel more comfortable and trust Peter Obi to invariably make these policies work even more than Mr. President could have done.”
Street Credibility VS Corporate Wealth Creation
Oborevwori: “They call me the man with street credibility. I’m street smart.”
“I don’t see any fight. All my life I’ve lived among my people… I know all of them. Now that I’m a sitting governor of Delta State, it cannot happen…” “When they hear the name Sheriff, they know I’m a field man”.
“In all my elections I always go to the field. The things (projects) I have now to commission, if I start commissioning, I won’t be able to finish them before the election.”
Omo-Agege: “The hood does not make the monk.” “We will be bringing in somebody eloquent, who is articulate, who understands what it means to be the governor of a state… We have somebody who is coming on board, who is big in the business world, who has created wealth and knows what to do to move the state forward.”
“He will put this money to use in such a manner that the issue of hunger in the land will be addressed, housing deficits, insecurity, dilapidation in our schools, and poor healthcare will be addressed”.
