The recent political upheaval in Delta State, triggered by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s surprise defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has left the party momentarily shaken but not broken.
The party shows signs of renewed strength and resolve. The first alarm came from Ika South PDP in Agbor, where members reported an attempt to halt their party meeting at their usual venue on Mariere Street. This disruption followed Oborevwori’s stunning announcement: the entire Delta State PDP was defecting to the APC, and all party organs were instructed to shut down and individually register with the APC at the ward level.
The Delta State APC Chairman, Elder Omeni Sobotie, thereafter announced the readiness of the APC organs at ward levels to receive and register every PDP defector.
PDP members across Delta were stunned by the sudden defection of their leader, Governor Oborevwori. Like lions startled by an unexpected bang, they initially scattered in confusion. But as lions also do, they are now regrouping and roaring back to reclaim their territory in the political jungle of Delta State.
What is left of the PDP leadership at the grassroots is rising to reaffirm its grip on the state the party has governed for 26 years.
So, slowly but surely, in the 270 wards across the state, the PDP is rousing its members and getting them back together for political contention, signalling its readiness to fight for power again, without its titled leaders.
Emmanuel Ogidi of Isoko South has been tasked by the interim National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagun, to rally the remaining loyalists and lead the reorganisation and election of new party officers. It’s no small task, but Delta PDP was once a tightly knit machine that thrived through 26 years of uninterrupted rule.
In recent years, however, the party became bloated and top-heavy, its voice growing louder but hollower. In that sense, this shake-up may be a blessing in disguise — a chance to shed the dead weight and rebuild smarter.
The party had grown top-heavy and increasingly hollow, like a loud but empty drum. Now, forced to shed some weight, it would regain agility and purpose.
The challenge to the resurgent PDP will not be from other political parties in the state or from its organisational failures, but from interferences from its previous leaders, particularly Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and Governor Oborevwori.
If a new interim leader can rally other members and elect a new executive council, the PDP reclaim the prime place in Delta politics with its new corps of leaders whose umbilical cords are not tied to the old guard.
Nevertheless, the new PDP’s major challenge will be interference from its previous leaders who are now with the APC. They will not be able to stomach a challenge from their old party, particularly when both sides know and have practised in what they do to win elections without majority votes.
It has been revealed that former Governor Okowa is sending messages through back channels to the previous state Chairman Esiso to take charge of the party.
But Esiso has denied. Nevertheless, everyone knows that such orders are Okowa’s standard practice. Okowa’s method of political operations is to disrupt the opposition with bribery, buying off leading opposition members to stop them from presenting formidable challengers. He will continue this obstreperous practice with his old party.
Oborevwori and Okowa’s positions in the APC are becoming increasingly untenable, with only a few old allies following them into the APC.
The duo expected a flood of PDP members would follow them into the APC. With that support, they hoped to outnumber the party’s original members and dominate the upcoming party congress.
Their goal was to overwhelm the old guard and seize full control of APC structures in the Delta State. To their consternation, that plan has not worked, as even their members felt betrayed by the leaders’ peremptory action.
According to Ika South APC Chairman, Mr. Hilary Fada Ibude, fewer than five per cent of former PDP members have registered with the APC in his area.
Across the state, tensions are rising at the ward level, as a small number of defectors clash with the overwhelming majority who refuse to follow their leaders into the APC.
As PDP embarks on reorganisation, many defectors have opted to return to their old PDP, because the APC has introduced a countermeasure at ward registrations.
Each new registrant is being asked to submit their PDP registration card for seizure or destruction before being issued an APC card. This is the quiet war going on at ward offices now.
It is a reflection of the unpopularity of Oborevwori and Okowa that many old PDP allies are not following them to the APC and will not register for the APC. These two leaders took for granted that most members would follow them into their new party.
They did not reckon with principles and the simple fact that people take pride and believe in their political party.
Interestingly, none of the major PDP figures across the state have formally resigned from the party. Most are keeping their next moves quiet. Even Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and former Governor Okowa have yet to submit resignation letters to their PDP Ward Chairmen — the officials authorised to receive such notices. Nor have they registered with the APC. For now, all eyes are watching, waiting.