Barely one week after a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom state, publicly endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second tenure in office, a fellow PDP governor, Sheriff Oborevwori and other key stakeholders in Delta state, have formally announced their resignation from the main opposition party to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Impressed by the federal government’s commitment to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, Governor Eno said the people of the state “will stand by him to complete eight years” in office.
He spoke at the flag-off of the Akwa Ibom – Cross River states section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
Going divine, the governor said: “The Bible says, who is this mountain that is standing before Zerubabel? The hand that started this work, that hand shall complete it. Our prayers for Mr. President is for good health to finish the work that he started and commission the work so that it will not be abandoned like the East-West Road.”
“Let me end by assuring our people-loving president, who will complete eight years because we are going to stand by him. And this is the truth. He cannot start this work and abandon it. Somebody else may not finish it,” Eno further added.
…The Oborevwori defection
Aligning himself with Eno’s position, Governor Oborevwori, leading other PDP stalwarts, including his predecessor and the party’s presidential running mate in the 2023 general elections, Senator Patrick Okowa, pulled out of the troubled PDP.
Both Eno and Oborevwori are South-south governors.
The defectors are to be formally received Monday at a rally by Vice President Kashim Shettima in Asaba.
Announcing the defection after a meeting with the state’s PDP leaders and stakeholders at the Government House Asaba, Wednesday, the pioneer party chairman in the state, Senator James Manager, said the decision was taken in consultation with various stakeholders across the state.
Others at the meeting were deputy governor Monday Onyeme, members of the National Assembly, Speaker of the state House of Assembly Emomotimi Guwor, members of the state House of Assembly, Commissioners, Local Government Council Chairmen, top government functionaries, stakeholders, leaders and party officials among others.
Addressing the meeting, Manager said: “You have just been told about some of the things that have been happening in the PDP Delta State. Some consultations have been going on and the climax of these consultations is what you are seeing today.
“We have discussed and have disagreed to agree and it is a unanimous agreement. I am the pioneer state chairman of the PDP. But you cannot be in a boat that is already capsizing because I am a riverine man.
“Looking at issues the way they are, we have come to the inevitable conclusion to do something else. It is a collective decision for so many reasons.
“Few days ago, there was a resolution taken by the PDP Governors’ Forum at Ibadan. Almost all the Governors were there and they resolved that they are not going into coalition with any other party.
“But as disadvantaged as the PDP is now with about 11 Governors, how do you go into a contest with an incumbent president? You think you can win? That particular resolution killed the spirit of so many PDP members.
“We lost election in 2015 as a result of a merger which even included splinter groups from the PDP. There are also other reasons. Today Senator Anyanwu is the National Secretary of the party, tomorrow it’s another person. The party must be positioned to go into an election to win. So you see that it is becoming very funny. The PDP is truly in trouble.
“If you look well, the current PDP state chairman was in the meeting, the governor was there, the deputy governor, the immediate past governor, the speaker. All of these persons were in the meeting. National Assembly members and even the House of Assembly members. The who is who in Delta State was in the meeting to make this decision.”
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, who also spoke, said the decision became necessary following the unfortunate happenings at the national level of the party.
Aniagwu said: “For some time now the media, particularly the social media have been awash as to what political decisions that we are going to be taking in Delta.
“While that was on, the governor and the leaders of the party have been very busy carrying out some necessary consultations and it is also part of that consultation that has resulted in this meeting today for the leaders of the PDP to be able to advise as to what necessary steps that needed to be taken.”
Waxing proverbial, the commissioner said: “It is said that when the taste of the palm wine changes, the drinking pattern also changes and the leaders of the party were unanimous in their view that the political temperature has changed.
“And there was a need for change that will help cement the development in our state; to build the bond of love that has existed in our state and to further advance the security and welfare of our people.
“Like you know, every politics is local. So in taking this decision, we came to the inevitable conclusion that moving out of the PDP is very necessary for us to collaborate with our kits and kin and build that bond that we have been enjoying.
“We believe that what is happening in the PDP at the national level can be likened to that palm wine whose taste has changed and that is why this decision has been taken.
“By the grace of God, on Monday next week, we would be able to make a bold statement that we are moving to the APC.”
…SAN explains defection
Speaking Wednesday in a chat with Blueprint on the defection, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mohammed Ndarani Mohammed, said the defectors were in order.
He said the decision was in line with Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution.
“The governor’s action is constitutional, and he has rights under Section 40 of the Constitution. As far as the office of the governor is concerned, his action is guaranteed under Section 40. It’s freedom of association.
“His case is different from that of a state assembly as implied under Section 68 sub 1g of the Nigerian Constitution, where such Assembly man ceased to be a lawmaker if he took such action. At that point, Sections 109 and 68 are applicable.
“The law that governs it is a reflection of Section 166 sub Section 1 of 1979. So, in essence, his defection has no implication. I’m also citing FEDECO vs. Goni to assert my claims. More importantly, it does not stop the governor from contesting for second term election in another party. So, it is not an impediment, and it is therefore in order.”
In another reaction, a human rights lawyer and activist, Malcolm Omirhobo, likened Governor Oborevwori’s defection to survival and not conviction or any principle. Omirhobo wondered whether his action was taken in line with relevant electoral laws and the constitution, saying if not, it might be nullified in the law court for violation if challenged.
“The governor is just trying to avoid being probed. He is not defecting based on principle. It is not based on conviction, party manifesto but survival. Now, he is a General without an army, and before taking such action, he should have gotten himself abreast with necessary laws before defecting.
“I mean relevant electoral laws and whether or not he complied with necessary provisions because the court will determine if he did or not. If not, his move might be nullified based on violation of electoral laws.
“Don’t forget that if his action is challenged, the court will be examining the Nigerian constitutional provisions. So, for me, the defectors know that a lot of rules are there guiding all these things and the implications if they have not met the requirements,” the legal practitioner argued.