SENATOR Ovie Omo-Agege, the former Deputy Senate President (DSP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2023 election in Delta State, has, on the face of it, withdrawn himself from party activities in the state in recent times.

Everyone knew that the APC apparatus in the state was centered on the former deputy president (DSP), who made all the decisions before the state governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori sank the PDP ship and swam into the APC vessel with his predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, and other top PDP politicians.

Omo-Agege became the de facto leader of the APC after defeating Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the party’s initial leader in the state, and giving the governorship ticket to Chief Great Ogboru, also called the people’s general, in the 2019 governorship election.

The APC’s 2015 gubernatorial campaign was primarily driven by Emerhor before a new order was instituted by the former DSP. He (Emerhor) contested against the former governor of the state, Senator Okowa, in the PDP at the time. Okowa governed Delta State from 2015 to 2023.

Ekwueme (the man who accomplishes what he says), as his admirers prevalently address him, was the vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 presidential election. He played a key role in what President Bola Tinubu tagged a political tsunami in the state on April 28.

Before Oborevwori landed in the APC, Omo-Agege had already served him a quit notice to exit the Government House, Asaba, in 2027. In the weeks and days before April 28, the APC leader openly raised uncompromising objections to Oborevwori enlisting in the APC.

Nevertheless, President Bola Tinubu, the undisputed national leader of the APC, was the lead negotiator with Oborevwori.

With then DSP’s domination of the party, many thought that Governor Oborevwori shot himself in the foot when he bragged on the defection day that the contending divides in the state APC (referring to the Omo-Agege and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN) camps, should bow to his authority as the new leader of the party.

About two months later, the governor appears not to have been showboating, as he has snatched the APC leadership from Senator Omo-Agege. Curiously, Omo-Agege, once the APC leader in the South-South geographical zone, has not discernibly presented a robust resistance.

Though it remains uncertain if his present quietness is a strategic plan, politicians familiar with his political style said Oborevwori’s crossover to the APC, backed by the president himself, was a big blow to his 2027 calculations.

Who will go against the gov? -Sobotie, party chair

The APC chairman in the state, Chief Omeni Sobotie, whom Senator Omo-Agege crowned, speaking on June 2 when he and other executive committee members visited Governor Oborevwori at the Government House, Asaba, said, “If the governor, as the leader of the party, tells everyone to queue behind him, who is going to question that? Who would act contrary to that?

”We came to reaffirm our support and pledge our solidarity with the governor of the state and the leader of the APC in Delta,” he added.

Senator Omo-Agege has ostensibly lost his hold on the party executive, from the look of things on the ground, and presently, the governor may be waiting for the ward, local government, and state congresses to lay hold of the APC structure in the state.

Oborevwori is our leader, Emerhor, the founding leader of the Delta APC

Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the party’s founding leader, whom Omo-Agege outfoxed, was out of the country when Keyamo led other APC leaders to welcome Oborevwori on April 27.

He bellowed when he visited Obovervwori at the Government House, Asaba, on his return last month, “Today is truly a great day for us. Being called the ‘founding leader’ is not just an appellation—it is a statement of fact. When we began building the APC in Delta State, we understood the challenges ahead. Since 1999, the PDP has been the ruling party in this state. But our dream has always been that one day, we would enter this Government House as APC. Today, that dream has become a reality.”

“I am here today with the same message—to reinforce that he is very welcome. He is now our leader, and we will work with him.

”In the last election, we couldn’t deliver the president in Delta State. But now, we can confidently say both the president and governor will be delivered in 2027—and that’s because of the unity we have found.”

He described the governor’s move to the APC as a ‘great favor,’ highlighting the strategic value of combining the PDP’s political base with the APC’s existing structure.

“The strength of what he brings from the PDP and what we already have in the APC will ensure that, in the next election, both the president and the governor will be delivered without any difficulty,” Emerhor added.

Only Tinubu and Oborevwori are entitled to automatic tickets — Chief Emami, APC chieftain, Delta South

A chieftain of the APC, who is Omo-Agege’s friend, Chief Ayiri Emami, speaking in Warri last month, stated that only President Tinubu and Governor Oborevwori were entitled to automatic tickets in the 2027 elections.

“I am happy that they realized we did our best by keeping the APC alive and active before they came to join us.

“The former deputy senate president, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege, held the party together before the PDP collapsed into the APC through mass defections,” Emami said.

Chief Ayiri revealed that apart from President Tinubu and Governor Oborevwori, all other elective positions would be subjected to primary elections in 2027.

According to him, “President Tinubu is not the cause of the hardship in Nigeria. He inherited the problems and is making efforts to solve them. “We will support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State to victory.”

The game has changed — Senator Nwaoboshi, APC leader

An APC bigwig and the immediate past senator who represented the Delta North senatorial district, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, also visited Oborevwori, saying his defection to the APC was bold and strategic.

Describing the entry of the governor and other PDP leaders into the APC as a game changer, he urged all APC members to embrace the new entrants with open arms, stressing that unity within the party would be crucial for delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.

”It marks a new dawn for the progressive family in Delta State and symbolizes unity, inclusivity, and our collective commitment to the growth and development of our dear Delta State under your leadership and guidance, as you chart a new course for the destiny of the state through the M.O.R.E. agenda, in conjunction with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

For Nwaoboshi, a strong ally of Omo-Agege, to visit Oborevwori and accept his leadership of the state is a noticeable departure from his previously held position. From the moment he (Nwaoboshi) left the PDP in 2021 because of his unsettled differences with the then-governor, Senator Okowa, he has never entered the Government House, Asaba, until he visited Oborevwori recently.

The Delta Central leaders’ shocker

What caused many to wonder about the fate of Senator Omo-Agege in the new Delta APC was the event of last Sunday in his senatorial district, Delta Central. The leaders of the party in the area adopted President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori as sole candidates for the 2027 elections.

Senator Omo-Agege and Governor Oborevwori hail from the same senatorial district.

The resolution was taken at the APC Delta Central mega unity meeting held in Ughelli, Ughelli North Local Government Area, some Sundays ago. Keyamo (SAN), Elder Omeni Sobotie, the state APC chairman, Senator Ede Dafinone, representing Delta Central, Rev. Francis Waive, House of Representatives member, Chief Paulinus Akpeki, who is the APC chairman in the Delta Central, Chief Stella Okotete, Chief Ighoyota Amori, and other political gladiators in the district were in attendance.

Omo-Agege, and the member representing Ethiope Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Erhiatake Suenu-Ibori, who is the daughter of a former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, were absent.

Her father, Ibori, is unarguably the political godfather of Omo-Agege. The commissioner representing Delta State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Monday Igbuya did not also attend the meeting.

The Delta Cen’ral senatorial district is Omo-Agege’s terrain before now, and it is improbable that an APC meeting of such capacity would endorse any other candidate for 2027 but him. The only palpable reason is that Oborevwori has altered the equation.

Ibori, who enjoys close ties with President Bola Tinubu, has been keeping a noticeable distance from Oborevwori’s administration over the outcome of the 2022 governorship primaries and the emergence of Oborevwori as governor.

It was unclear If Omo-Agege was invited to the Delta Central meeting. His non-attendance may be an indication that the intra-party rift that existed between him and the Keyamo faction before the governor’s defection to the APC has remained unresolved.

He was at the Cenotaph in Asaba when the vice president, Kashim Shettima, who represented President Tinubu, received Oborevwori, Okowa, and other PDP leaders into the party on April 28. He later joined others to push the boat out for Oborevwori.

However, since then, he has been strategically silent on the goings-on in the state, as Chief Sobotie and other APC leaders, who hitherto reported to him, now report to the new leader, Governor Oborevwori.

Omo-Agege’s predicament

Despite the Oborevwori inroad, it remains to be seen if Omo-Agege is prepared to give up his age-long governorship ambition and queue behind him.

”I don’t think Omo-Agege will give up his governorship ambition. He is scheming to be on the ballot in 2007. But whether he will contest on another party’s platform, I do not know. He Is in a tight spot, but he will not give up his ambition from his body language.

”The man is planning, so he won’t say anything for now. The defection of Oborevwwori disordered his plan. Continuing to criticize the governor would mean he is working against the APC. I believe he is biding his time.

“He may choose another platform, and this is another reason for him to be silent. If he is considering another platform, he will do it discreetly and quietly,” an APC stalwart said.

While he may still be weighing his options, his supporters, as well as other complainers within the APC, who dumped PDP because of the misunderstandings with Okowa, who is Oborevwori’s political teacher, urge Omo-Agege not to chicken out.

One of them told Saturday Vanguard, “It is not true that the APC will give an automatic ticket to defecting governors. Those who say that Oborevwori has an automatic ticket will be disappointed when the time comes.” (Saturday Vanguard)