The Storm Ahead In Delta As Ibori Takes Charge Of APC

The defection of Ms Erthiatake Ibori-Suenu, daughter of Chief James Onanefe Ibori from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, APC is an indication of the storm ahead in Delta. But is it a storm in a tea cup as loyal PDP chiefs claim?

The defection Ms Erthiatake Ibori-Suenu and four members of the House of Representatives from the opposition to the All Progressives Congress, APC has inevitably consolidated the position of the ruling party in the polity.

The APC which started as a minority in the House of Representatives has by the serial defections of seemingly politically spineless Labour and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP members transformed itself into the dominant party in the House.

The mark of cowardice first expressed at the inauguration of the 10th House when the PDP and Labour party members who were in the majority failed to hamronise themselves to produce the speaker.

 By their timidity, the opposition made way for the serial decimation of their ranks by the APC in the 10th House.

By welcoming the defections with gusto as he did last Thursday, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas brought to bear his partisan dereliction of Section 68 of the 1999 Constitution which guides the condition under which a parliamentarian may defect.

The constitutional leeway for a sitting member to defect and retain his or her seat is on the premise of a division in the party that sponsored the lawmaker.

It is noteworthy that presiding officers at both the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly have over time failed to be equitable in their interpretation of the law as concerning defections especially when the party they belong to is the beneficiary.

Just over a month ago, the Speaker of Ghana’s parliament, Alban Bagbin caused a stir when he expelled four members of parliament for changing parties ahead of this month’s election. His stance was that it was against the law of Ghana for a legislator to change political parties.

Despite the frictions in Labour Party and the PDP in the last few months, there is no basis to assert that a faction has come up in either party to justify defections by their lawmakers.

However, what made the latest defections significant was the involvement of two conspicuous persons who were elected to the House not by reason of their political prowess, but by peripheral considerations.

The former Okada rider, Donatus Matthew who won his seat in Kaduna on the popularity of the Labour Party was one of the defectors last Thursday.

Asked if his move had the support of his constituency, he said: “You cannot just work on the decision of the people at the constituency level because you are dealing with people with different levels of understanding.

“I am taking this decision based on conviction,” Matthew was reported as saying.

He has simply told us that he didn’t need the approval of his constituents to move. This lawmaker who was elected simply on the popularity of Peter Obi has simply demonstrated to us another reason why political actors should be scrutinised on their personal merits and not on any other consideration.

The second, albeit more popular defector on Thursday was Ms Erthiatake Ibori-Suenu, daughter of the former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori.

Ms Ibori-Suenu’s defection underlines the political subtleties in her native Delta State that have polarised forces between her father, James Ibori and the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

The defection of Ibori-Suenu indicates for all that the war between the Okowa and Ibori tendencies in Delta is now beyond settlement.

It is especially an irony that the lady at the centre of the storm, Ibori-Suenu was about ten years ago, a legislative aide of Okowa’s when the former governor served as senator and her father was under confinement abroad.

Following the friction between her father and Okowa over the Delta state governorship election in 2023, Ibori chose to work against the emergence of Sheriff Oborevwori. He failed in that pursuit. He has now grabbed the position of overlord of the APC in Delta State, making nominations here and there from the state mostly on account of his relationship with President Bola Tinubu.

The days ahead promise to be very interesting in Delta State with more disgruntled political actors in the PDP expected to defect to the APC. Among those expected to shift camp is Senator Ned Nwoko, the senator representing Delta North who is already in open combat with the Oborevwori/Okowa mainstream.

His imminent defection will mean that all three Senate seats in Delta will be in the hands of the APC. However, PDP chiefs in Delta are optimistic that the emergence of Ibori as the leader of the APC in Delta will not erode the strength of the party in the state.

Over the years PDP has been challenged with eruptions now and then, but has weathered the storm along the way. The prospects of Ibori leading the charge this time also has its challenges. While Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the nominal leader of the party has welcomed the defection of Ibori-Suenu, it is open to debate whether he will surrender his status as leader to her father.

That is against the background of the questions raised over his role in the 2023 presidential election. The question of who becomes the candidate of the APC is another issue that the APC will contend with. Will Omo-Agege surrender to the whims of Ibori? There is also the question of Festus Keyamo whose historical political antipathy to the Ibori clan has not been settled.

Whatever, associates of Governor Oborevwori are confident that if he continues on his present trajectory he and PDP will prevail against the APC in 2027.

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