ASABA: The ongoing attacks and counterattacks between Delta State governor Sheriff Oborowowrie and Senator Ned Nwoko of Delta North Senatorial District have caused a crisis in the state’s politics and social circles.
A few weeks ago, Nwoko asked for that the state fund the Okpai Independent Power Project, which would offer 100MW of electricity to nearby communities. The project was intended to generate power for the national grid, and the first phase of the project, located in Okpai, Ndokwa East, began in 2002 and was inaugurated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, with a 480MW electricity-generating capacity. In response to Nwoko’s request, Oborevwori, through his Executive Assistant
He argued that Sen Ned Nwoko should focus on his legislative role and work with President Bola Tinubu and other National Assembly members to secure benefits for his district. The governor also described the attacks as unsavoury and an attempt to coerce, stampede and blackmail him before the public.
If Senator Nwoko believes in the importance of the Okpai IPP, he should work through the Federal Government, not press the state government to fund it, Ifeajika was quoted as stating at the press conference.
Senator Nwoko should focus on advocating for federal action to step down the power as agreed, rather than pressuring the governor to use state funds for federal projects,” he stated
The governor’s office called for a collaborative approach between the senator and the state government, suggesting that as the sole PDP senator from Delta State, Nwoko should work constructively with Oborevwori to address both local and federal issues.
Another governor’s aide, Fred Edoreh, asserted that Nwoko’s action is driven not by the interest of Anioma people or Delta North but by personal need to safeguard his ticket, under the suspicion and fear that Okowa might want to take it from him in the 2027 senatorial election.
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Thus, Ned is only fighting for his political survival and, in doing so, he decided to adopt the strategy of fomenting the Anioma sentiment, ostensibly projecting himself as fighting for their interest and inciting them against both Governor Oborevwori and ex-Governor Okowa in an early build-up to 2027,” Edoreh told The PUNCH.
In a clear bid to win over the Igbo in Delta State, he began by saying that he was the only one advocating for the creation of Anioma State, which he stated would be separated from the South-South and merged with the South-East.
Having learned from it, he now brought up the subject of Okpai’s departure and attempted to incite resentment by accusing Delta North of showing favoritism in choosing of projects, hiring practices, and upkeep of a governor’s lodge in Warri.
The goal is to get support from the Anioma sentiment, undermine Okowa’s reputation among Deltans, diminish his status as leader in Delta North, and intimidate Oborevwori by threatening to withhold Anioma votes from him in 2027.
The idea serves two purposes,” he said. First, it will compel negotiation to keep the senatorial ticket for 2027. Secondly, it will use the sentiment to pull Anioma people to support his return through a different political party in the event that he loses the ticket.”
While he is entitled to his political strategy and calculations, it is however, worrisome, to see that he can pursue personal survival by creating divisive, tribal, regional and ethnic sentiments, brazenly destroying the historical and cultural heritage of oneness which all Delta nationalities share, and disregarding the unity, social cohesion and stability of the entire state, and with such half-truth and illogical reasoning.
The governor’s aide said all the issues Nwoko raised are determinable, stating that the electricity step-down project is well known and that the Okpai Power Plant is an independent company under the control of the Federal Government through the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited and other venture partners.
Edoreh added that the project had been a matter of contention, for which the House of Representatives had to institute a probe on the allegations that there is ambiguity about the contract sum and the lack of accountability and transparency in the execution of the project.
He said, “The questions that arise are: If the minister has promised to allocate funds for its continuation, what is the basis of Nwoko’s haste, to the extent of disrupting the social and ethnic cohesion of the entire state?
Seeing all that has been said about the ambiguity of the contract sum and the lack of accountability and transparency in the execution of the project, why is Senator Nwoko pressuring Oborevwori to blindly throw N35bn into it?
Who says the governor can’t invest in the NNPCL/NAOC project, whose contract amount is unclear, in order to provide electricity in Delta North, especially since the power sector has been deregulated and states can now independently generate, transmit, and distribute electricity to their citizens