… insists TInubu knows that the ex-DSP did not support him in 2022 primary
…Sobotie Knows how Omo-Agege treated us badly
Otunba Nick Ovuakporie is Executive Assistant (Political) to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State — and before that, he was the Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Delta State. His defection to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP on the eve of the governorship election in 2023 served as a major blow to the aspiration of the then Deputy President of the Senate, DSP, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who was the APC’s governorship candidate in 2023.
Ovuakporie has since then been consistently in following the political steps of Governor Oborevwori and remarkably, followed him to the APC.
From his position of knowledge and experience he speaks on issues in the APC and the alleged aspirations of Senator Omo-Agege to challenge Oborevwori in the forthcoming 2027 election.Excerpt of an Interview with Otunba Nick Ovuakporie, Immediate Past State Scribe of the APC in Delta State
Hear him:
There have been reports of late that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is considering challenging your boss for the 2027 election. How do you see the prospects of such?*
I would like to begin by affirming that no one can hold His Excellency, our Governor, Rt. Hon. Elder Sheriff F.O. Oborovwori to the jugular, as he remains the undisputed leader of the APC in Delta State.
The recent controversies and social media rants about someone claiming to contest against the governor in 2027 are baseless. The Governor’s developmental track records are overwhelming and have received support from the people of Delta State, who will ensure his re-election in 2027.
*You were the secretary of the APC in its critical formative years in Delta State. Can you tell us those who collaborated with you and how the party took shape in Delta State?*
The story of the APC in Delta State can not be told correctly without my input, having played a significant role in its administration as an insider and a major stakeholder. It is fundamental to note that the APC is not a personal fiefdom of any individual but a political party founded on progressive ideals and open to all who wish to join its ranks. This is exemplified by the fact that we admitted Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, former Deputy President of the 9th Senate from the Labour Party. He was elected to represent Delta Central Senatorial District in the 8th Senate under the Labour Party platform and not the APC. He was not a founding member of the APC but joined us after the party was well established, under the leadership of the founding leader Olorogun O’tega Emerhor.
We took leadership from him and gave it to him upon his joining us, as he was the highest elected official of the party at that time.
*How really did you give backbone to Omo-Agege to be APC leader?*
We did everything within our powers to support him, including influencing and authenticating the parallel primary elections held at Mobile Base in Udu, where he contested against Olorogun O’tega Emerhor whose primaries held in Ughelli We supported him until he emerged as the deputy president of the 9th Senate. It’s on record that he never supported the Party to pay rents or for it’s day to day operations which you may verify from the State Chairman Elder Omeni Sobotie neither did he reward anyone with the smallest contract from the billions of contracts he influenced during his tenure as DSP. The current State Publicity Secretary of the APC can be asked if he benefited from him, rather than bullying for the role he played in enabling him to win the Court of Appeal case that secured his victory.
*So do you see Omo-Agege or any other person challenging the governor in the forthcoming election?*
Why should any sane person challenge the Governor’s leadership? We can not have two captains in a boat. People make leaders, and those leaders must reciprocate the benevolence extended to them by the people who bestowed such leadership on them.
*Senator Nwaoboshi has alleged that some people in the presidency blackmailed Senator Omo-Agege before President Tinubu. Why do you think they did this?*
The assertion that some persons in the Villa blackmailed him before President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is also incorrect. The President himself was aware the former DSP did not support his emergence as the Party’s presidential flag bearer during the Presidential Convention held at Eagle Square in Abuja. He supported someone else, and this is an open fact. His actions against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu continued into the 2023 general elections, having gone into a working pact with the Peter Obi led Labour Party with open endorsement which were widely circulated in the media space. Lies can not last for so long.
It is an incontrovertible fact that without me, Otunba Nick Ovuakporie, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege would not have had the leadership of the APC during his reign, including the present State, Wards, and Local Government Excos that gave him the support he never reciprocated. I took possession of the entire Congress materials singlehandedly without his support and handed over the structure of the Party to him, with my name all over the country. This feat earned him the leadership of the Party then, a position he misused to cause disaffection within the Party leadership ranks rather than using it to unite the Party. His poor iron clad leadership style caused Delta State, the Managing Director of the NDDC, which was supposed to accelerate development in Delta State.
I took so much risk and endangered my family for the sake of ungrateful tyrants. I make bold to say that the current State Exco, up to the wards, were my brainchild and came to being through my ingenuity. As such, he must submit to the new political order and stop heating up the polity. We will not allow anyone to distract the governor as we march towards the 2027 general elections.
The Governor, Rt. Hon. Elder Sheriff F.O. Oborovweri is the leader of the party, and everyone who claims to support our president genuinely must submit to the Governor’s leadership and queue behind to build the Renewed Hope for MORE Agenda The governor has made every Deltan proud with his relentless desire to develop every part of the state, and he deserves our support and commendation.
The governor does not need to be distracted by noisemakers and subjected to any kind of mudsliding by those driven by selfish and inordinate ambitions with an unquenchable thirst for power.