By Jackson Omatsola
Now that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has settled who the authentic governorship candidate of the Delta state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is, it is only reasonable for all other contending individuals of the party to queue behind Rt. Hon. (Chief) Sheriff Oborevwori to give the party it desired victory in the race to Denis Osadebe House come 2023 as a family.
All that Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori needs to do and is already doing is to aggressively reach out to all family members in the state and truthfully pledge to run an all inclusive government.
The PDP has been in power in the state since 1999 with Chief James Onanefe Ibori as the pioneer Governor. True to type, no reasonable leader vacates office to somebody he cannot trust to continue with his legacies in governance and that can be seen in practice as accounting for why Chief Obori handed power to Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan who has been in his cabinet all along.
On completion of his 2nd tenure as governor, Providence entrusted the state Governorship seat and leadership of the PDP to Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa whose 2- term tenure would terminate in 2023 and, as naturally expected, Dr.Ifeanyi Okowa is set to handover the reign of governance to a trusted and tasted party chieftain in the person of the indefatigable and Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. (Chief) Sheriff Oborevwori.
Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborovwori has been a staunch PDP chieftain in the state that has paid his due in all ramification and now is his turn to ascend to the one seat of governance in the state.
With the benefits of having being in government and rising to becoming the Speaker of the ever vibrant House of Assembly the PDP family should all rise up to the challenge of uniting as one indivisible body to ensure that the party retain its stronghold and leading position as the leader of all the other parties in Delta State.
The imperative of Chief Sheriff Oborevwori emergence as the governor of Delta state after Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is anchored on the premises that he would naturally continue with the legacies of the immediate past regime of which he was a key player.
He will hit the ground running on assumption of office because he is abreast of the programmes and projects of his predecessor just as he is also fully aware of the hopes and aspirations of Deltans unlike a fresh or new governor from another party whose main focus, if it ever happens, on assumption of office would be “fault finding” and engaging in unnecessary political bickering and probing of the past regime. This act, no doubt is capable of distracting the whole state from good governance.
With Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori at the helm of affairs, Delta is set to reach the zenith of infrastructural development, youth employment and empowerment never before witnessed in our socio-political – cum economic melieu.
Hon. (Dr.) Jackson Omatsola, KSM, a former Majority Whip of the Delta State House Of Assembly and SSA to Governor Okowa on Community Development writes from Warri.
