Tejiri Ebikeme/Nyerhovwo Oghnenejiri
A Lagos-based radical lawyer, Barrister Festus Keyamo has implored those thinking that the sudden death of Senator Akpor Pius Ewherido was the end of opposition in oil-rich DeltaState to have a serious rethink fast.
The DeltaState born lawyer held that the struggle to reclaim DeltaState from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has just begun.
According to him, the passing away of Senator Pius Ewherido would ginger the opposition to actualize the dream of reclaiming the peoples mandate from the PDP in DeltaState.
Barrister Keyama, leader of Delta Forces United (DFU), a political pressure group while speaking in Effurun, Headquarters of Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, in the presence of some top national leaders of the All Peoples Congress (APC) when DFU publicly identified with APC, noted that the gathering became necessary because there was no structure of the All Peoples Congress in the state as they had been waiting for the formal registration of the party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to him, “Today is not a day for politicking, it is a day, we are collectively mourning the passing away of Senator Pius Ewherido who was part of us, today is a day that we are paying special tribute to him and we just realize that because there was no structure of the APC in the state as it were because we were waiting for the registration of the party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), so we thought it wise to use the opportunity to at least put on ground an organized APC structure in the state, organize some thing for him because he identified with the APC until his death, so that is what we are doing here today, formally and publicly identifying with the APC, we have always been part of it from the beginning; I have always been part of the struggle from day one behind the scene, we have always been part of the efforts and we are doing this now to honour late Senator Pius Ewherido.”
Barrister Keyamo also used the opportunity to encourage the opposition not to loose hope, adding that, “This gathering is first of all to pay tribute to late Senator Ewherido on the platform of APC and also a forum to let the opposition in Delta State which Senator Ewherido was part of to let them know that their head must not drop, let them know that the political battle/struggle to reclaim Delta State has just started, because late Senator Ewherido was part of the efforts of the struggle to wrestle this state from the PDP, he has actually gone halfway through by wrestling Delta Central Senatorial District from the PDP but we are determined to keep that legacy alive, keep that spirit alive, we don’t want the political family to scatter, we don’t want the effort to vain, we want to keep the tempo alive.”
“The struggle to reclaim DeltaState from the PDP has just started. Death of one of us, Senator Ewherido will not stall us, those who stole our mandate would be stopped, they would not be able to steal our mandate again, so let us all be prepared for the ‘political war’. Change is about to come in Delta State, known world powers have fallen not to talk of small power in Asaba, he added.”
Keyamo also said, “We must ensure that the PDP is out of governance in this state so that they will not steal our money and mandate again. All of us must fight tooth and nail to reposition the state and lead it to the Promised Land.”
The governorship aspirant, who is also the prosecuting counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) vowed that those who have been stealing public funds in the state will surely “vomit them” at the appropriate time.
Responding to a question, whether he would like to contest for the now vacant Delta Senatorial District seat in the Senate, Barr. Keyamo said that the decision rests with the leadership of the APC, saying, “The hierarchy of the party would decide that, I cannot take such decision, they will decide at the appropriate time who their best candidate is to put forward for the race.”
In attendance were Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Governor of Edo State, Chief Tom Ikimi, Chief John Odigie Oyegun among other national leaders of the merger APC.
