Tompolo and Ibori are at loggerheads over Governor Okowa’s successor in the 2023 elections, ENigeria Newspaper reports.
The Ijaw nation was rooting for deputy governor Kingsley Otuaro to hoist the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party in the next 2023 election, according to an earlier story published by ENigeria Newspaper.
However, according to an amended version of the story also published here, the Otuaro plan was scrapped after a closed-door session with Ijaw leaders, at which Senator James Manager was declared the political pressure group’s consensus choice.
The nomination of James Manager as the Ijaw nation’s candidate, on the other hand, has aroused intense debate and contention in Delta State’s political circles.
While the dreaded ex-militant, Chief Government Ekpemupolo nicknamed Tompolo, threw weight behind his kinsman, political godfather, Chief James Ibori, has a different strategy for his handpicked candidate, David Edevbie from Delta Central, to win the election.
Enough to say, ambition has now pitted Ibori against Tompolo, leaving everyone perplexed as to the result of the whole saga, according to verified information obtained by ENigeria Newspaper.
For the Ijaw nation, 2023 is a defining year, as the region, which claims to have been marginalized in the state’s polity affairs, believes it is their turn to taste the seat of power in the state. For this reason, ENigeria Newspaper exclusively learned that Tompolo allegedly entered into a pact with Okowa in 2015 to hand over power to the region; a promise we learned the governor is determined to keep.
As the situation unfolds, Okowa’s body language, which shows he may honor the bargain he made with the former militant commander, is said to be disturbing Ibori, who has been restless in his determination to install David Edevbie as his candidate.
Ibori, who was alleged to have headed to the creeks in order to continue his negotiations with Tompolo, has been uneasy since Governor Okowa’s outburst over the zoning agreement, and there are indications that his efforts are far from fruitful.
Ibori, who is thought to be the brain behind the ‘DC-23,’ an acronym for Delta Central for 2023, was claimed to have persuaded financiers to choose his favorite candidate from a list of ten other interested candidates.
ENigeria Newspaper reports that his choice, Olorogun David Edevbie of Delta Central, who enraged Delta South Senatorial District by contesting the governorship position against the zoning arrangement in 2015 thus almost scuttling Delta North’s chances, is getting it hot with aspirants from other zones, but he appears to have a bigger fish to fry with Senator James Manager’s entry into the race, yet Ibori is not backing down; he is allegedly pressuring Okowa to accept Edevbie at all cost.
Ibori is claimed to have shifted to Asaba to continue consultations with stakeholders following Okowa’s alleged decision to shift power to the south in favor of the Ijaw nation, which might signal a new dawn of political zoning in the state.
The Odidigborigbo is reportedly said to have visited some of his supporters in Asaba yesterday, urging them to keep the momentum going as while he continues his engagement with influential people in the state’s politics. (E-Nigeria)
