Uduaghan For Delta South Senate Seat On APC Ticket, And Why He Left PDP
The Oasis Reporters
August 29, 2018
Besides the scare of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC bulldogs, there are other pecuniary interests that is chasing former People’s Democratic Party chieftains, governors and legislators into the warm embrace of the All Progressive Congress, APC ruling party. Only the truly brave can withstand the inspired onslaught of digging into the financial lockerrooms of politicians.
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday night at the National Caucus meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, formally welcomed Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Chief Godswill Akpabio, the former governors of Delta and Akwa Ibom States, respectively to the party following their recent defection from the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
And if anything, everyone knows that President Muhammadu Buhari needs all the help he can get to scale through his reelection coming up early in the first quarter of 2019.
Uduaghan flanked by former Governors, Segun Oni (Ekiti) and Oserheimen Osunbor (Edo).
The meeting held inside the New Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governors, federal legislators, members of the NWC and ranking party members in attendance.
There was excitement, jubilation and shouts of joy when Uduaghan entered the hall, clad in white flowing agbada and a red cap. The ovation was even louder when he was formally introduced to other party leaders.
Many outside Delta South senatorial district may not know beyond the vicious chase of the EFCC, why such a PDP stalwart like Emmanuel Uduaghan, a medical doctor who got every political mileage from the PDP, to suddenly turn it’s back on Party.
Under his first cousin, former Delta State governor James Ibori, Uduaghan was Secretary to the State Government. Ibori ensured that Uduaghan succeeded him as governor for 8 years, representing Delta South district, which Ibori made look like an equitable power rotation from Ibori’s Delta Central to Delta South before going to Delta North, but many swore that little or no voting took place, results were simply written and announced.
Still, Uduaghan, like Ibori won all the court cases, and indeed they both served well to a reasonable extent, even when more was expected of them, going by the huge amount of oil derivation revenue that accrued to oil producing Delta State.
While there was the power rotation clause in the PDP arrangement between the three senatorial districts, a similar one was meant to equally play out in the districts for other elections like the senatorial elections.
Like in Delta South, Izon born Chief James Manager became the Senator representing Delta South in the eight years of Uduaghan’s tenure.
As Uduaghan was about to step down as governor, he wanted James Manager to retire as Senator for him to takeover as representative of the Itsekiri ethnic group for the next eight years.
Hold on a minute, James Manager told him, he will continue, for his mother is Isoko, the third ethnic group that make up the district and since then President Goodluck Jonathan was then running for reelection in 2015, having a fellow Izon, albeit from Delta State would be considered a positive turn.
It turned out that Goodluck Jonathan lost the election to Muhammadu Buhari.
Uduaghan now shows up. With no President Jonathan to defer to now, crosses over to the Buhari camp and asks to be given the APC mandate to muscle the seat from James Manager. Buhari finds this intriguing turn very interesting, for he is very keen to make an inroad into the South South, the oil producing region that shuns his kind of politics. Whatever the EFCC has against Emmanuel Uduaghan can be waived, if it will turn political dislike into warm embrace.
