The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Barrister Peter Nwaoboshi, has said there is no going back on the quest of the people of Delta North senatorial district to produce the next governor of the state come 2015. According to him, this is in line with the time-honoured principle of zoning which the PDP is noted for.
The PDP chieftain, known for his forthrightness, disclosed this when members of the Anioma Media Professionals (AMP) paid him a courtesy call in Asaba. He said as chairman of the PDP in the state, a party with a long-standing history of equity, justice and fairness, the people of Delta North have the moral standing to aspire to rule the state in the next dispensation.
According to the legal practitioner, businessman and politician, the mood in the party from Abuja to Delta State is that in 2015, somebody from Delta North would become the governor of the state. He traced the history of power shift to 1998 when the party was formed, adding that as a founding member of the party, he was in a position to chronicle vividly the genesis and the dynamics of the principle of power rotation which first produced a governor from Delta Central in James Ibori and now Delta South (Emmanuel Uduaghan). “It is only reasonable, just and fair that the only zone that has not produced governor in the state, Delta North, does so this time”, he declared.
“We have gone too far in this journey, we have had series of meetings, we have made compromises in times past to ensure equitable distribution of power in the state, we cannot afford to recant our position as a people and as a party.
“I challenge those who think otherwise to show evidence why power should not shift to Delta North. This is the zone that has shown the most loyalty and commitment to the PDP in the state, returning the highest number of votes for the party in all elections since 1999. The records are there at INEC for anybody to verify”, he said.
He recounted the various agreements and compromises reached from the days of James Ibori and how the party hierarchy in the state agreed to work together for the realisation of Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta South) governorship project against strong opposition from Delta Central, adding that now is the time for the same party machinery that produced Ibori and Uduaghan to move into action for the realisation of the aspiration of Delta North people.
Nwaoboshi, a notable grassroots mobiliser and fondly called the ‘oracle’ of Delta politics said he cannot in all fairness preside over the injustice of pushing for the gubernatorial ambition of a non-Delta North in 2015. “To do so would mean a desecration of my personal values and principles and much more a betrayal of the common trust which the Anioma nation reposed in me”.
He said: “Our party, the PDP, has a history of fairness and equity right from its early days and Delta State being a PDP state cannot be seen to be going against the party creed. Those pushing otherwise are doing incalculable damage to the ethos of Nigeria’s most democratic party”, he said.
Spokesman for the group, Ken Ugbechie, assured the PDP chieftain of fairness and dispassionate reportage by the media in the electioneering process. He urged the party in Delta State to ensure that the equity which it preaches is put into practice in the state.
