Sen. Nwaoboshi prepares for full war with Gov Okowa, meets Buhari

Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, representing Delta North in the Nigerian National Assembly, has moved his political arsenal to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in preparation for full war with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State towards the 2023 general elections. Nwaoboshi who was suspended about five days ago from the State PDP for his caustic attack on Governor Okowa, his uncoordinated actions in the Nigerian Senate – working for the party government – and his noticeable romance with the ruling party, met President Muhammadu Buhari last Friday immediately after his defection to the APC. The meeting was pre-arranged by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, before the official announcement of his defection.

National Daily investigation revealed that Nwaoboshi dumped the PDP in desperate search for a return ticket to the Senate of the Nigerian National Assembly on a party platform outside the PDP. Our investigation further revealed that Nwaoboshi has been having unease that Governor Okowa may desire to return to the senate on the expiration of his second tenure in 2023. Thus, the senatorial ticket of the PDP for Delta North may be returned to the Okowa, keeping Nwaoboshi out of political perquisite. According, the fear of Okowa taking the PDP senatorial ticket from Nwaoboshi for Delta North had led the senator to the elementary attack of the Delta State governor to discredit him and establish himself as a more reliable leader in the senatorial district before the 2023 elections.

Okowa was the senator representing Delta North in the Senate of the National Assembly before he became governor. He handed the Delta North senatorial ticket to Nwaoboshi, who was the PDP State Chairman in Delta, as he was leaving the federal legislature.

National Daily investigation further revealed that Nwaoboshi had left the PDP into personal political obscurity in the APC in Delta State. Stakeholders in Delta polity revealed to our Reporter that Nwaoboshi did not win the senatorial election in in 2015 on his personal merit or established political status or pedigree but as a candidate of the PDP; the same political phenomenon was said to have worked for him in 2019. The stakeholders simply described Nwaoboshi as a local community senator, only known and celebrated in his community, Ibusa, and nowhere else. They expressed that Nwaoboshi lacks the political stature to win election in Delta North which comprises of all the local governments in Oshimili, Aniocha, Ika and Ndokwa. Sources said that there are over 10 local governments in the senatorial district and Nwaoboshi was said to be slightly known only in his community.

The sources further disclosed that the people of Delta North are yet to feel the impact of the senator representing the district; they cannot identify the constituency projects he has done in over the past six years, as can be identified in the senatorial district represented by the Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege. Perhaps, this, they said, was another political tragedy awaiting Nwaoboshi in 2023, compelling him to tactically seek coverage under the federal might provided by the APC government at the centre.  Senator Nwaoboshi, the Delta North stakeholders said, may be relying on the federal might to fight Governor Okowa in the 2023 elections in Delta State, if they are to contest for the senate.

It will be recalled that the former Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, from Onicha Olona, had dumped the PDP to the APC after he failed to get the governorship ticket of the PDP in 2015. First, he resigned under mist circumstances as the Speaker following seeming misunderstanding with the then Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; as well as the use of his office as speaker to promote his governorship ambition across the state. Ochei, like Nwaoboshi, also lacked the political stature to win election even in his local government except as a candidate of the PDP. Since he left the PDP for the APC, the former speaker’s political capital had dwindled until President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him a Director in NIMASA.

However, Senator Omo-Agege has been a renowned politician who ha been able to establish his political authority in Delta State outside the PDP. Dumping the PDP after being denied the governorship ticket, Omo-Agege has been able to win elections into the senate on the platform of an opposition party in Delta State. He has been on control of Delta Central over the years. The deputy senate president has also invested heavily in Delta Central in recent years, providing diverse constituency projects which include water, rural electricity, education scholarships, bursary awards, and various forms of empowerment projects to boost his political capital and influence as he prepares for the 2023 governorship race.

Meanwhile, welcoming Nwaoboshi to the APC, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement – President Buhari congratulates Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi for decamping to APC – declared: “President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja welcomed Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi to the All Progressives Congress, after he left the Peoples Democratic Party, saying ‘you are welcome to the progressives family.

“Sen. Nwaoboshi, representing Delta North District, Delta State, was presented to President Buhari and National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee at the State House by Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege.

“The Deputy Senate President said Senator Nwaoboshi’s decision to join the APC clearly shows that the effort of the CECPC was yielding fruit. The Senator was warmly welcomed by party members.”

The PDP State Working Committee (SWC) had last week announced the suspension of Senator Peter Nwaoboshi.

The State Publicity Secretary, Ifeanyi Osuoza, in a statement indicated that the decision was taken at an emergency meeting, explaining that  the suspension will last for a period of one month.

“This action has become necessary against the backdrop of the recent romance with an opposition Party, verbal recklessness, and unprovoked utterances of Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, particularly against the person of His Excellency, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the Executive Governor of Delta State, which the PDP State Working Committee views strongly as totally unacceptable, disturbing, and unbecoming of a politician and party member of his stature.

“The suspension, therefore, though obligatory, has sadly become imperative and inevitable, especially, given the dramatic spontaneity and over zealousness of his verbal attacks, which are totally out of character and may have suspiciously been induced by circumstances which defy immediate rational analysis and comprehension,” the State Publicity Secretary had declared.