By Jeckins Ejiro Wisike
Ordinarily it is expected that every adult citizens of Delta state should think rationally and objectively to be discerning enough to separate truth from falsehood. I actually wouldn’t have responded to such petty, myopic political gossip, however, it became necessary to address the false speculations that Chief Great Ogboru move to APC and later to ADC, acting Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori’s script.
Let me be clear: This unfounded and fabricated rumours are nothing but blatant lies from the pit of hell, cooked by some disgruntled and unscrupulous elements with intent to malign the integrity and legacy of Chief Great Ogboru. The claim that he is working for Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s re-election against Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege is not only baseless, mischievous but with calculated attempt of pull him down syndrome to mislead the public.
It will be necessary to ask the following questions on how any reasonable and supposed adult will decide to spread fabricated stories to tarnish the image of a high profile personality like Chief Great Ogboru for the purpose of 2027 elections. And also disbelieving for a supposed enlightened person(s) to accept every rumour being trending in social media without critical analysis, mostly when there are no evidences to support such damaging claims.
It is obvious that people like us that have been with him for the past 24 years as our leader and mentor and have followed and abreast with his political journey in Delta State can testify without mincing words that Chief Great Ogboru, has till date been enjoying overwhelming support of all Deltans in all his governorship race. And such highly profiled personality couldn’t be referred to as playing the script of who? Gov. Oborevwori? A successful international businessman whose financial history are known and documented by known institutions such as CBN, EFCC and Nigerian Ports Authority.
A man who became a millionaire at 25 and a multimillionaire in dollars by 28 through his fisheries investment, spanning over 42 years across African countries. To say such a man is taking political directives from anyone is not only laughable but deeply disrespectful. In 2003, when Chief Great Ogboru contested governorship under Alliance for Democracy (AD), people called it a “Yoruba party” that Urhobos shouldn’t associate with it. Today, many of those same people are in the APC, which grew out of that very party.
In 2007, when he moved to the DPP, the same people mocked the party for having no national presence. Yet, someone became senator, and other became a House of Representatives member, while about 11 persons became Delta State House of Assembly members through that same party, only to later destroy it because they didn’t want Chief Ogboru to become governor.
In 2013–2014, during the APC merger process, Chief Ogboru, leading the DPP, pulled out due to the manipulations of these same individuals, who rejected the agreed formula that would have given DPP fair representation in the new APC structure in Delta State. In 2015, he joined the Labour Party and these same critics again tried to ridicule him. Yet under him, the party produced a Senator and two members of the Delta State House of Assembly and many became beneficiaries.
For years, these same individuals accused Chief Ogboru of refusing to associate with the political class. Now, after one election in which he didn’t go to court, they went spreading false story that he’s now “holding brief” for Governor Oborevwori. Height of hypocrisy. Let me clarify one thing: Chief Ogboru’s son, Michael Ogboru, who was appointed by Gov. Oborevwori, accepted the role merely as a sign of respect, not because Chief Ogboru is politically aligned with the Governor.
In fact, Michael ceased participating in that administration as far back as September 2023. As for other appointees allegedly loyal to Chief Ogboru, many of them do not even know the road to the Government House in Asaba, nor can the Governor identify them. Chief Ogboru maintains relationships with several politicians across party lines, including Chief James Ibori, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, Dr Arthur Okowa, Chief Ighoyota Amori, and Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege and others, not because of political alignment, but because he believes in politics of sportsmanship, and not bitterness.
Chief Ogboru remains committed to the vision of transforming Delta State and continues to pursue his political aspirations, guided by his enduring principles and love for the people. And yet, he was never a contractor to any tier of government in Nigeria. He has never done, and is not doing, any direct or indirect contract with any government at the federal, state, or local level.
It could be recalled that in 2002, Chief Great Ogboru formed the South-South Rainbow Coalition (SSRC), a political pressure group, alongside other prominent Nigerians. He later used this platform to lead his followers into the Alliance for Democracy (AD), where he emerged as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2003 election, against the then-incumbent Governor, Chief James Ibori of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
During the campaign, Chief Ogboru and his supporters faced intense political persecution. The state government and the PDP used all their powers to intimidate his supporters, denied him access to public campaign venues, and restricted his appearances on government-controlled media. His only option was to campaign physically from town to town.
Despite these challenges, Chief Ogboru won the popular vote in the 2003 election. However, the results were manipulated in favor of the PDP. As a law-abiding citizen, he filed a petition at the Governorship Election Tribunal to challenge the outcome, pursuing the case up to the Court of Appeal. Unfortunately, the legal process was deliberately delayed through numerous adjournments throughout Chief James Ibori’s four-year tenure, and the petition was eventually dismissed without a proper hearing.
During this time, the PDP-led government in Delta State further sought to weaken Ogboru by targeting his businesses to diminish both his political and financial strength. The 2003 elections were marred by irregularities: ballot boxes were snatched and pre-filled in private residences of PDP members, often in the presence of complicit law enforcement officers. These events seriously undermined democratic principles and deeply affected him, his followers but yet, Chief Ogboru remained undeterred.
2007 Election and the Betrayal of Urhobo Interests:
In 2007, Chief Ogboru contested the governorship under the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), running against Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of the PDP, an Itsekiri man alleged to be maternally related to Chief James Ibori.
During the voter registration exercise for the 2007 general election and 2011 general election, many Urhobo politicians within the PDP collected political incentives and mobilization fees to register politically unaware sons and daughters of Urhobo kingdoms in riverine Ijaw and Itsekiri communities as voters. This was done to artificially inflate the voting population in those areas, strategically disadvantaging Chief Ogboru.
Sadly, they did not foresee the long-term consequences. In trying to win the election for the PDP, they inadvertently empowered the riverine communities politically, weakening Urhobo influence. Today, many Urhobo politicians, despite being in power, have become politically irrelevant and now depend on the Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Ika people for political and financial support. A tragic irony.
The 2007 election was widely condemned as flawed. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not conduct a proper election but instead wrote fictitious results in favor of the PDP. In response, Chief Ogboru filed a petition, which was initially dismissed, but the Court of Appeal in Benin overturned the decision on October 4, 2010. The court ruled that the 2007 election was invalid and ordered a rerun, which took place on January 6, 2011.
Even in the rerun, the manipulation persisted. INEC reused the same fraudulently accredited registered voter list, filled with fictitious names from the riverine communities—individuals originally mobilized by PDP Urhobos to defeat Chief Ogboru.
Chief Ogboru’s True Victories and INEC’s Alleged Manipulations:
In the 2007 general election, the 2011 rerun, and the 2011 general election, Chief Ogboru was widely regarded as the actual winner, based on genuine votes. However, INEC declared manipulated results, relying on inflated figures from riverine LGAs such as Warri North, Warri South-West, Burutu, and Patani. Shockingly, many Urhobo PDP leaders continued to betray their own people, enabling this injustice.
This conspiracy against the Urhobo nation, under the guise of opposition to Chief Ogboru, has left a painful legacy. Once-proud Urhobo leaders now look up to their riverine counterparts as political and financial patrons. What a reversal of fortune.
2015 and 2019 Elections: Repeating the Pattern:
In the 2015 and 2019 general elections, Ogboru contested again, this time against Senator Dr. Arthur Okowa, an Ika man. These elections were also manipulated, with results arbitrarily written in PDP’s favor. In both instances, PDP’s votes even exceeded the total number of accredited voters in the whole state, which was clearly a violation of the Electoral Act.
Fictitious votes were generated from sparsely populated rural communities in Delta North and the riverine Delta South. This manipulation stemmed from the same voter registration fraud that began in 2007 to 2011, wherein Urhobo voters were registered in riverine areas to favor the PDP. As a result, the true population strength of urban Delta Central was politically diluted. Ogboru challenged these outcomes up to the Supreme Court, citing widespread irregularities and fictitious votes.
Legal Battles and Judicial Injustice
Chief Ogboru has filed more election petitions than any other Nigerian, including those in 2003, 2007, 2011 (rerun and general), 2015, and 2019, except for the 2023 election, which he didn’t contest due to advice from close allies, given past experiences.
Key facts about his legal struggles include:
1. In 2007, the Delta State Government, in collusion with the Nigeria Police, unlawfully declared Chief Ogboru wanted with a ₦25 million bounty, with so much harassment and intimidation on his political followers, just to prevent him from filing a petition against the PDP and INEC. 2. His 2003 petition against Ibori lasted 46 months, while the case against Uduaghan dragged on for over three years.
3. The Supreme Court, due to Ogboru’s persistence, recommended time limits for election petition cases, leading to the current legal framework. 4. Ironically, Chief Ogboru became the first victim of this statute of limitations in 2011 when the Court of Appeal failed to deliver judgment within the required 60 days, as prescribed by Section 285(7) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, through no fault of his own.
Yet, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case based on this technicality, despite his request to nullify just 11,000 fraudulent votes from riverine areas like Koko town. 5. His lawyer, Dr. Dickson Osuala, was fined ₦8 million for asking the Supreme Court to reverse its decision, a punishment that shocked many in the legal community.
6. During the 2015 and 2019 tribunals, INEC’s lawyers argued that INEC guidelines had no legal force, meaning the use of card readers (a fraud-prevention tool) was “unknown to law.” This rationale was used to validate questionable votes, and the Supreme Court upheld this position.
Finally: A Legacy of Integrity and Perseverance:
It is unfortunate that some individuals continue to spread lies against Chief Great Ogboru, an innocent man who has relentlessly pursued justice. He is the only Nigerian to have contributed so significantly to the development of Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence through legal action.
Chief Great Ogboru, affectionately called The People’s General, has proven himself a man of peace, due process, integrity, and modesty. His political journey, though fraught with betrayals and injustice, remains a symbol of unwavering courage in the face of systemic oppression.
Those peddling falsehoods against him should desist and instead focus on real political issues, such as the development of Delta State, not the selfish “politics of stomach infrastructure” that now dominates Nigerian politics.
, Constitutional Democrat and Political Analyst from Ughelli