Ibori And Omo-Agege: The Supremacy Battle In Delta APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC in Delta State has received a bounce in the media following the defection of Hon Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu to the party from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. However, beyond the medial splash are subsisting issues of loyalties and deep factionalisation of the party in the state.

The news of the defection of Ibori-Suenu was welcomed by many APC stalwarts. However, no one welcomed it more than the leader of the party in the state and the immediate past governorship candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

Omo-Agege who is also the immediate past deputy president of the Senate while welcoming Ibori-Suenu into the party was quick to assert his determination as leader of the party to carry her along in the scheme to project the APC to reckoning in the state.

He said: “As the leader of Delta State APC, I’ve always been driven to build a strong, inclusive party that represents the best interests of our people. Ibori-Suenu is a seasoned leader with a wealth of experience and expertise that will undoubtedly propel our party’s growth and success.

However, the assertion by Omo-Agege that he is leader of the party is something that some party leaders are bound to put to question given the visible footprints of Chief James Ibori. Those impressions are now fully confirmed by the defection of his daughter.

Ibori it is claimed has been the one liaising with President Bola Tinubu in the state and been the one making nominations to Abuja from the state.

It is against this background that the claim to leadership of the party in Delta by Omo-Agege is being put to scrutiny. That claim is also being questioned by the recent division in the ranks of the leadership of the APC in Delta.

It is now commonly reported that all but about six members of the state exco are no longer loyal to Omo-Agege. The apparent disloyalty of the exco members is said to be a sad development and betrayal of Omo-Agege who was known to have been the single godfather under whose goodwill they all came to office.

GWG.ng reports that the exco members were not too long ago derided by Mr Festus Keyamo as Omo-Agege’s houseboys and house girls.

The APC in Delta State is now presently fragmented along three lines, one led by Chief Paulinus Akpeki as acting state chairman, another by Chief Francis Obigbor, the deputy state chairman and yet a third group aligning with Elder Omeni Sobotie, the de facto chairman who has been on medical vacation.

Will Omo-Agege subject himself to Ibori and play second fiddle? Ahead of the 2023 election, Omo-Agege had rejected such a second fiddle role when he claimed not to have a god father.

Other political actors in the party in the state including Mr Festus Keyamo, the highest political office holder in the party and other long time rivals of Omo-Agege’s like Eng Victor Ochei are also waiting in the wings in the forthcoming quest for supremacy in the APC in Delta.

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