Why I refused to accept Ibori’s candidate as my successor —Okowa

Ifeanyi Okowa, the immediate past governor of Delta, has
addressed his fallout with James Ibori, former governor of the state.

Okowa and Ibori have been at loggerheads since the Delta
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary election in 2022.

Ibori had supported David Edevbie, a commissioner of finance
in his administration, while Okowa threw his weight behind Sheriff Oborevwori,
former speaker of the state house of assembly.

Oborevwori eventually won the primary and subsequently
triumphed in the governorship election. He was sworn into office on Monday.

 “We went into the
primaries not agreeing on the same candidate, we talked about it but he(Ibori)
did not want to shift ground on his candidate. That’s the truth and I did not
agree with that candidate for basic reasons which I made clear enough to him
and also to his own candidate.

“I did not hide it. Till tomorrow, I speak about it in truth
not because I thought I was a god that needed to install somebody. David
Edevbie is my friend. We were with the former governor in his tenure together
as commissioners, but in 2014, when it became obvious that it was the turn of
the Delta North — Delta Central and Delta South had had their turns — I heard
that David was going to run and he was indicating interest.

“I went from Abuja with three of my friends to visit him in
Lagos — and I said ‘David, please, it’s only fair, I know that there are so
many people competing but I’m coming to you as a friend. It will not be fair if
you run. Governor James Ibori has been there, Governor Uduaghan has been there,
it’s obviously the turn of the Delta North; why don’t you allow us to have our
space so that we can all be said to be part of the state? Thereafter, we can
all work for you to become governor’.

“And at the end, he said ‘I will not run anymore, I will
support you’. I thanked him and left back to Abuja.”

Okowa, who was a senator at the time, said Edevbie went
against his word and was holding secret meetings with stakeholders,
strategising on how to become governor.

“And then suddenly, next thing we heard was that they had
endorsed David but this same David had committed himself to me,” he added.

 “So we went into the
race, a very tough race but God enabled me to win.”

 ‘EDEVBIE CAN’T ENJOY ZONING HE NEVER
SUPPORTED’

Although Okowa appointed Edevbie as a commissioner in his
cabinet, he said the latter still proceeded with his plans on how to become the
next governor.

“In the second year, I started hearing that he was holding
meetings in Lagos and other places where they were already prepping him to be
governor without anybody discussing with me,” Okowa said.

The PDP vice-presidential candidate noted that although the
zoning rules meant the governorship seat, in 2023, would go to Delta Central —
Edevbie’s zone — he was adamant that the former commissioner would not be a
beneficiary.

“In the first instance, he did not want the zoning to Delta
North, so if the zoning was going to continue, he’s my friend but he shouldn’t
be the one to benefit from the zoning he did not want,” Okowa said.

“I’m careful in what I do so it will be difficult for me to
support someone outside Delta Central but my only mindset is that somebody who
did not believe in the zoning cannot be the one to benefit from it and I made
it clear to the former governor.”

Okowa said Ibori met with him a few days before the primary
election to reach a compromise on a fresh candidate — but he noted that it was
too little, too late.

“I told him it would be difficult to withdraw support from
my candidate. I don’t do things like that,” Okowa said.

Oborevwori defeated Ovie Omo-Agege, the APC candidate and
former deputy speaker of the house of representatives, to clinch the
governorship seat.