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Delta by-election: How the candidates, parties
stand
on october 12, 2013 at 12:33 am in politics
Dafinone…Politics
has become an
expensive venture
especially in Delta
State
EMERHOR
By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South &
Festus Ahon
IT is tricky, quite complicated to foretell which
candidate or political party will win today’s bye-
election in Delta Central senatorial district
(predominantly Urhobo ) of Delta State to fill the
vacancy created in the Senate, occasioned by the
regrettable demise, June 30, of the former Senator,
late Pius Ewherido, because of shifting political
variables.
It is straightforward to say that the senatorial flag
bearer of Democratic People Party, DPP, Chief Ede
Dafione, the party on which platform the late
Ewherido contested and won in April, 2011, will win
the election because of the party’s Urhobo appeal,
but that will be failing to take into reckoning the
crisis the party is grappling with.
To also say that the All Progressives Congress, APC,
fielding Olorogun O’tega Emerhor is likely to win
because he inherited the political structure of the
late Ewherido, as Emerhor wants people to believe
and that it is an amalgamation of three legacy
parties, ACN, ANPP and CPC, is to turn politics to
mathematics.
In like manner, concluding that
the senatorial candidate of PDP,
Olorogun Emmanuel
Aguariavwodo, will triumph
because of his party’s following
is like deciding the end of a race
when the referee had not blown
the final whistle.
From obtainable reality, political
pundits are most likely to find
the October 12 bye-Delta Central
bye -elections difficult to
conjecture because the
parameters are different from
the previous ones.
However, it is palpable that out of the nine
candidates in the race, six of them: Mrs. Atatagolly
Hannah Oritsegbubemi Odibe -Advanced Congress of
Democrats; Chief (Mrs.) Mercy Imonisa – Kowa Party,
KP and Mr. Alfred J.J. Joseph – Allied Congress Party of
Nigeria, ACPN, Omoru-Akposheri Edafe-David of All
Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; Lucky Ighomuaro
Ambrose – Mega Progressive Peoples Party, MPPP;
and Chief (Barr.) Andi Kayoma Osawota, Labour
Party, LP, can be described as mere contenders.
The real battle for who becomes late Ewherido’s
successor is among the PDP, APC and DPP
candidates, Aguariavwodo, Emerhor and Dafinone
respectively. Dafinone rates highly because his party,
DPP, led by three-time governorship candidate, Chief
Great Ogboru, often called “People’s General” is
regarded by the people of Delta Central as “our
party”.
Its inroad was because of the disunity that rocked the
PDP before now in the senatorial district. Indeed, it
was the disagreement and no love lost relationship
that made the late Ewherido to dump PDP for DPP.
Even Dafinone was once a member of PDP. However,
PDP seems to have resolved its differences and the
power brokers have joined forces to retrieve their
pride in today’s bye-election.
Today, PDP will be fighting to take back the
senatorial seat, which DPP took from it for the first
time in 2011. The parties have deployed a lot of
resources and men for the election, taking place in
eight local government areas; Sapele, Uvwie, Okpe,
Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Ughelli North, Ughelli
South and Udu, which make up the district.
Sapele:
DPP candidate, Chief Ede Dafinone comes from
Sapele local government and combining his prowess
with that of his father, his followers believe the
people will give him their votes.
But PDP tactician and
Commissioner for Housing,
Chief Paulinus Akpeki, told
Saturday Vanguard that
Sapele is PDP candidate, Chief
Aguariavwodo. Akpeki said he
had never lost election to the
Dafinones in the timber town.
Chief Akpeki, who was in his
elements told Vanguard
pointedly, yesterday, “The
truth is that the Dafinones are
going to lose in Sapele, I have
defeated them in the past, whether in the defunct
SDP/NRC days or the other times the elder Dafinone
sponsored a House of Representative candidate
against my candidate. “
He said, “Ede Dafinone, who is contesting the
senatorial election is a white man, he is an alien in
Sapele, find out, he cannot speak in our native
dialect, so with which language is he campaigning to
our people, I tell you, he is a non-starter.”
“PDP has always defeated Dafinone in Sapele and we
will do it again,” Akpeki said, as if sure of the swing
of pendulum.
It is obvious, however, that DPP and PDP are going to
share Sapele votes. The impact of the APC candidate,
Olorogun Emerhor will be known after the election.
Ethiope –East
This is homestead of DPP leader, Chief Great Ogboru,
which many believe will be delivered by him to his
party’s candidate, Dafinone. It will be a surprise if
Ogboru loses Ethiope East to any party.
But his elder brother, Chief Julius Ogboru, one-time
pillar of the party and former Field Marshal of the
Ogboru Campaign Organization, who had decamped
to the PDP, boasted that he was going to prove
analysts wrong.
The APC candidate is not expected to have a good
showing in Ethiope –East, where the two Ogboru’s
and their supporters will fight to finish. But the
younger Ogboru, Great Ovedje, is supposed to have
an upper hand. Therefore, Ethiope-East will go the
way of DPP.
Ethiope-West
None of the three major candidates are from Ethiope-
West, which has been traditionally a PDP area.
Urhobo political leader, Chief Ighoghota Amori, who
lost the senatorial seat to Ewherido is from Mosogar
and three-time member of House of Representatives,
Hon. John Agoda is also from the same local
government. Both are working for the PDP
candidate, but Emerhor and Dafinone have made
some inroad too.
Ughelli South
PDP candidate, Aguariavwodo is from Okpare-Olomu
Ughelli South and is most likely to clear the votes no
matter the fight by other parties. The Deputy
Governor, Prof Amos Utuama and former Minister of
State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi are
from this local government and their mandate is to
deliver the area to Aguariavwodo.
Ughelli North:
This is the local government of the APC candidate,
Olorogun Emerhor, who is from Evwreni community.
He is going to share the votes with Aguariavwodo
because of the influence of former ACN governorship
candidate, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege, who had
returned to the PDP and working round the clock to
deliver the area to PDP. Emerhor’s followers,
nevertheless, think that with the late Ewherido’s
structure at the disposal of their principal, he is as
good as having won Ughelli North.
The LP candidate, Barrister Osawota is from Ughelli
North, but his party has no footing in the area.
Emerhor’s participation has automatically knocked
off whatever support the DPP would have got in
Ughelli North, as the battle is likely to be between
APC and PDP.
Okpe:
Many think that Okpe will be won by either DPP or
APC, but the member, representing Okpe, Sapele and
Uvwie Federal Constituency, Mrs. Evelyn Ojakavo and
other PDP leaders were working to deliver it to PDP.
However, DPP and PDP will divide Okpe votes.
Udu
Udu had for some time now been voting against PDP
candidates, but one of the political heavyweights and
member of the House of Representatives, Hon Austin
Ogbaburon, decamped from DPP, Thursday, and
declared with his teeming supporters for the PDP.
The wind of change is actually blowing in Udu, but
can it brush off DPP?
Uvwie
Lagos lawyer, Barrister Festus Keyamo, who lost the
APC primary to Emerhor and former Commissioner
for Education, Dr. Veronica Ogbuagu, are doing
everything to secure victory for APC in Uwvie, but the
DPP has tremendous support in the local
government. The battle here can be said to be an
APC/DPP affair, but the PDP is planning a come-back.
Between Uduaghan and Ogboru
However, the final verdict on
who wins today’s election lies
with the voters, who will make
the decision with the voter’s
cards. The governor of the
state, Dr. Emmanuel
Uduaghan, has shown much
interest in the bye-election to
ensure that Aguariavwodo
wins.
In fact, Uduaghan, who has increased his
development tempo, certainly, wants to make a
point with the bye-election and had relocated from
Asaba to Warri to monitor proceedings and handle
challenges as they come. He directed political
appointees and elected office holders from the
district to deliver their wards to the party’s
candidate.
Winning the bye-election means a lot to the PDP,
which wants to say that it is the party to beat in the
state, while for Chief Ogboru, a loss for Dafinone, the
party’s candidate in today’s election, may mark a
political eclipse for him.
He will be a much-sought force for further political
negotiations in the State if Dafione wins, but if the
DPP fails; the gravitation will be to PDP and could
even mark the death of DPP in the state. The result
will be determined in less than 24 hours. 10-10

www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/delta-election-candidates-parties-stand/

Deltans vote labour party vote freedom from Godfatherism

Kindly report the ongoin election in ur area if u ar in Delta Centeral, also give in ur results frm ur various pollin boots in order to reconcile results released by INEC wit wat is on ground. Pls don't jst vote, also protect ur votes by following up on the vote counts and subsequent result.

NOTE: pls don't do violence, d winner doesn't count 4 u if u die!