Chairman of Isoko Grassroots Movement (IGM) Hon Sunday Elueni has asked Barrister Peter Nwaoboshi, the Delta State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to address issues raised by the Secretary to the State Government, Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay.
He also challenged other governorship hopefuls from Anioma as well as their leaders to respond to the SSG’s tirade, which to him ought to be seen instead as an advice.
According to the IGM chairman, the SSG merely pointed out the flaws in the strategies adopted by governorship aspirants and other Anioma leaders in the bid to swing the pendulum in favour of Delta North Senatorial zone come 2015.
“How can Anioma nation be talking of marginalisation in spite of massive infrastructural development in the area? Are the Anioma more marginalised than the Isoko people? Why should they be talking about ethnicity instead of telling Deltans what they hope to achieve in the State?” he asked.
Elueni particularly recalled that it was the same Nwaoboshi and his Anioma brothers who frustrated attempts to have a pact on zoning among the ethnic groups in the past and wondered how the same people opposed to the plan could turn around to say it exists.
“What was Nwaoboshi’s role in Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s emergence? Was he not Chief Godwin Obielum’s main anchor when Uduaghan was running in 2006/2007? Did he not throw his weight behind Chief Great Ogboru from Delta Central in 2011 despite knowing that the man belonged to the opposition party? What if God had granted his wish, will Nwaoboshi still be talking of Zoning?” he added.
Rather than resorting to the use of foul and negative words, the IGM boss advised all Governorship hopefuls to change strategy and instead focus on issues based campaigns as should be the case in this circumstance.
Recall that the Chairman of the Delta State Chapter of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Barr. Peter Nwaoboshi, had blasted Comrade Ovuozuorie Macaulay, the Delta State Secretary to the State Government, over his vehement denial of an agreement for power shift among the three senatorial districts in the governorship of the state.
Nwaoboshi had said: “Macaulay is not in a position to know if there was an agreement on power-shift or not in the state. He wasn’t there in 1998 when we founded the PDP and was only bought in towards the tail end of the first tenure of Ibori. He was a practising journalist in 1999 and does not understand party administration. His views are personal and of no consequence.”
The Delta State Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Comrade Ovuozuorie Macaulay who had categorically dismissed the existence of an agreement for power shift among the three senatorial districts, said that the purported agreement was the machination of the imagination of the Anioma/Delta North people, who are bent on using every available trick, including the invocation of a non-existence agreement on power shift, to get the governorship of the state in 2015.
According to Macaulay: “I was initially very enthusiastic about an Anioma governor as Delta North is the only district that is yet to produce the governorship of the state but I am afraid that they may not get the support of the other districts if they don’t change their style. There is no need for this strident cry of marginalisation. It is a pointer that the Anioma are out for a revenge mission against the other parts of the state should they win in 2015. I think the proper thing for them to do is to campaign and sell their agenda for transforming the state to the people. With the way they are going about it, I am afraid that people like us will not support an Anioma person for the governorship as we are scared.
“If at all, there was an agreement, the proper thing to have been done for the agreement to be valid was for the people of Delta North to vote massively for Uduaghan. Since nothing like that happened in the election, such an agreement is not valid. For the avoidance of doubt, the opposition had 12 members in the House of Assembly.”
