The high hopes entertained by the Anioma people to produce the next governor of Delta State may have collapsed at the last minute following the decision of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to look beyond Delta North Senatorial District for a candidate for the 2015 governorship ballot.

Up till last night, incumbent governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, had hoped to convince the party to support his moves to zone the position to the Igbo-speaking part of the state, which has yet to produce a governor. He, however, finally gave up early this morning and endorsed Mr. David Edevbie, former Principal Secretary to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, as the consensus governorship candidate.

“They met till 5am. Edevbie has been confirmed as the favoured candidate,” a source close to the Delta State Government informed News Express minutes ago.

Uduaghan, who had all along backed former permanent secretary Tony Obuh as his successor but reportedly became frustrated by a strong Urhobo lobby combined by the Anioma disunity over the issue. Anioma leaders had vehemently rejected Obuh and, in the end, the bloc ended up with upwards of 12 aspirants, none of whom agreed to step down for each other.

On the other hand, aspirants from Delta South and Central agreed to step down for Edevbie, a former Commissioner for Finance during the days of then governor James Ibori. He hails from Ughelli North in Delta Central Senatorial District. His becoming governor would mean that Uduaghan, who is an Itsekiri, would be handing power back to the majority Urhobo ethnic group.

•Photo shows David Edevbie.