By Sylvester Obasere
It is profoundly disheartening to behold you, Mr. Pius Eguono Onodjae – a man whose singular political appointment was brokered through Hon. Charles Oniyere, a beneficiary of Chief Great Ogboru’s enduring political benevolence in securing a seat in the Delta State House of Assembly – now wielding the very instrument procured through that appointment to compose the drivel you have the audacity to parade as political commentary.
One is compelled to ask: is this the depth to which hunger can debase a man, or has some graver malady befallen you? Your submission, which I have painstakingly perused, is nothing more than a tapestry of falsehood, carefully woven from preface to conclusion, devoid of substance and anchored in mischief.
Let the record be set straight without equivocation: Chief Great Ogboru, throughout the entire span of his political odyssey, has never aligned himself with the Accord Party. That political banner has, and remains, the emblem of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. Any attempt to distort this fact is either borne of ignorance or a deliberate effort to mislead the public.
Mr. Eguono, are you stricken with amnesia, or do you merely feign ignorance of the events of 2015? It was in that year that Senator Omo-Agege stood before the people of Delta State and confessed, without coercion, that he had conspired with PDP chieftains in the past to subvert Chief Ogboru’s rightful victories in 2003 under the AD, in 2007 (including the rerun), and again in 2011 when Ogboru contested under the DPP.
In sanctuaries and public squares alike, Omo-Agege solemnly vowed never again to raise his hand against Ogboru’s mandate. Yet, the eyes of Deltans beheld him in 2020, jubilant at the Supreme Court as it affirmed the election of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa – the very mandate he had pledged, barely 180 days earlier, to help restore to Ogboru. When the conscience of Delta people rose to brand this act a betrayal, it was you and his courtiers who sprang to his defense, cloaking treachery in the convenient garment of “politics.”
Why, then, does virtue suddenly become vice when Chief Ogboru extends a hand of sportsmanship to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori upon his electoral victory? By what curious or perverse calculus do you now anoint Ogboru as an “extension” of Okowa and Sheriff, while Senator Omo-Agege is absolved of engaging in an identical act? Must Ogboru be condemned for the very conduct for which Omo-Agege was excused?
What, indeed, is Chief Ogboru’s transgression? From James Ibori to Sheriff Oborevwori, every PDP standard-bearer has felt the weight and impact of Ogboru’s political influence. Since 2003, he has expended his personal resources in the relentless pursuit of what he believes to be the liberation of Delta State, fully aware that genuine political change is neither cheap nor easily attained.
If there remains any doubt about his political impact, one need only inquire from the present governor what deprived him of a seat in the Delta State House of Assembly in 2011. The answer lies in the formidable political force that Ogboru has consistently represented across electoral cycles.
Today, Chief Ogboru stands resolute within the ADC, a coalition he helped to shape and position for future electoral success. Nigeria remains a multi-party democracy, and no individual holds a monopoly over political platforms. Beyond the APC, ADC, and PDP, there are numerous viable alternatives. Senator Omo-Agege is therefore at liberty to return to the Accord Party—the platform that has historically aligned with his ambitions—rather than trailing Ogboru across political movements.
The year 2027 will ultimately serve as the arbiter of these debates. It shall bear witness to the will of the people and the strength of those who seek to lead them. Should that moment arrive as many anticipate, Chief Ogboru’s victory will not merely be personal—it will be a triumph claimed and owned by the people of Delta State.
From Sylvester Obasere
A Political Analyst from Delta
