The April 11, 2015 governorship polls decided who the next
governor of Delta State would be from May 29, 2015. That has been established.
What maybe unknown to many is the reasons the elections were won and lost. From
all the indices and projections made by pundits prior to the election, Senator
Ifeanyi Okowa, candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party was to become the
winner of the polls and he won. There are a few reasons for that.
First, Delta State is a stronghold of the PDP and will remain so
for the foreseeable future. Since the return of democracy in May 1999, Delta
State has given over 75% of its votes at every election to the PDP. In the last
April 11 Governorship polls, the same feat was replicated by the PDP. PDP is so
entrenched across all the wards, State constituencies, federal and senatorial
districts of the State to be uprooted so easily. This was also reflected in the
number of national and State Assembly members the PDP earned in the polls.
The so called bandwagon effect that seemed to momentarily put APC
in speculative advantage was ultimately proved to be a mere wishful thinking in
Delta State.
Another reason Senator Okowa won is the strong morality for zoning
in the State. Since the creation of the 24 years old State, nobody from Delta
North Senatorial District has ever ruled Delta. Central have taken 10 years
with Chief Felix Ibru and Chief Onanefe Ibori. Delta South under Dr. Emmanuel
Uduaghan is about completing its 8 years tenure. The popular clamour for power
shift to Delta North Senatorial District was an idea whose time came and the
opposition couldn’t overcome the movement.
Accordingly,
Delta North Senatorial district where Senator Ifeanyi Okowa hails from gave him
their block votes. Chief Great Ogboru and Chief Otega Emerho who happens
to be from Central Senatorial District stood no chance at all, as that
senatorial district ironically was the biggest battleground for the three parties,
PDP, Labour and APC. In the same way, Delta South, especially, the Ijaw
nation also keyed into the Senator Okowa/Kingsley Otuaro ticket for their
foremost son from Warri Southwest local government, Barrister Otuaro – Deputy
Governor -Elect and gave him their massive votes.
With the above scenario, the Labour party and All Progressives Congress
governorship candidates in Delta State were primed to fail woefully in the
Saturday, April 11, 2015 governorship polls. As all their preparation for the
Governorship election tended to give the impression that they were running for
Senatorial election in Delta central. All their efforts, consultations and
campaigns were centred on achieving the Uvwiamughe declaration, that reduced them
to ethnic bigots and not gubernatorial personalities.
Across the State the leading stakeholders and elders in politics
were in the PDP, supporting the PDP to retain the State. This was also the same
thing as the youths in Delta State were solidly mobilized for the PDP. The
reasons Labour and APC lost are aplenty, it will take a whole season to
enumerate them.
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