A chieftain of the Labour Party (LP) and member of its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in Delta State, Engr. Leon Obibi, has stated that the party’s candidate, Deacon Ken Pela is actually up against only one party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 11, 2023 gubernatorial election. He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) is merely a splitter, disgruntled faction of PDP pretending to be a different party, and asked Deltans to ignore them at the polls and vote for the Labour Party. He said Deltans must see through the gimmicks of what he called PDP1 and PDP2, with PDP2 pretending to be APC, and reject them outright at the polls, as they do not have good plans for the state, but a continuation of their failures at the national and state levels.
Engr. Obibi, who is also Delta State Coordinator for the Presidential Campaign Team and the party’s National Rapid Response Team, stated that only Labour Party has the political will to lift the fortunes of Delta state around from the bottom where PDP1 and PDP2 have dumped arguably the wealthiest state in Nigeria.
Speaking to our correspondent via the telephone from Ozoro, his Delta state base, Obibi said, “Basically, there are two PDPs in Delta. There’s PDP1 and PDP2, that is APC. So technically, there are PDP1 and PDP2, but they are both.just one PDP. PDP1 we know through and through. PDP2 is coming with a decoy as though they are APC, but they are actually PDP. And that also reflects in the candidature of PDP2 as APC. So from the governorship candidate himself, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, who was a former commissioner in James Ibori’s cabinet, to the last candidate, all APC candidates in the state are all PDP members who merely changed party. So no difference.”
Obibi said all APC candidates vying for elective positions in Delta formerly held positions in the PDP, saying they all became APC overnight because they were short-changed in PDP and had to find alternative platforms to advance their political interests.
From Omo-Agege to his deputy, APC chairman in state, APC Campaign Council chairman, the Senatorial candidate for Delta Central to the House of Representatives candidate for Aniocha Federal Constituency and former LGA chairman, Dr. Tony Nwaka, and others were all PDP members before they fell out of favour and left to pitch tent with APC.
Obibi said Deltans neither need PDP1 nor PDP2, because PDP is an expired product that is harmful and toxic to the electorate, as it has been proven at the state and national levels, adding that a disgruntled PDP2 would be worse if elected, alleging that its appetite for corruption would be more rapacious than PDP1.
According to him, “We wish to say that what we require in Delta state is neither PDP1 nor PDP2, because the party is an expired product. PDP has two sons – PDP1 and PDP2. We want a new tree, the Labour Party tree. The PDP tree is a corrupted tree. We need a new tree, one that is free of bad worms. PDP2 (APC) is disgruntled with PDP1, because PDP2 (APC) is not ‘chopping’ in the state; so they want to come and ‘chop’. But they will ‘chop’ the same way that PDP1 is ‘chopping’, if not worse. We are afraid it will be worse.
“So Deltans should reject PDP1 and PDP2, and move towards Labour Party, a new tree of hope, one that will be watered with integrity, competence, a tree whose fruits will be sweet and satisfying to every Deltan. The PDP trees (PDP/APC) already have worms in them; there’s no amount of fertiliser that you put that can give you a sweet fruit.”
Obibi expressed confidence that in spite of the seeming manner Omo-Agege, the candidate of PDP2 (APC), is moving in his campaign trail, the Labour Party hierarchy in the state is not moved, but assured of victory at the polls.
“Let me tell you something about elections in Delta state,” he explained, “If you go back in time, from 1999 elections till date, how many voters turn up in Delta with all the money they pump into elections, plus rigging? Maybe 700,000; if they over-rig, maybe one million. Do you understand, even with massive rigging? If they do what they do, then PDP1 will struggle to cancel out PDP2, because they are drawing from the same well. The coast becomes clear for Labour Party to win. Basically, what PDP2 has now, that’s APC, is mere traction, but on ground, at the very ground level, they are not as loved as the perception they try to create in the media.”
Obibi said PDP1 shot itself in the foot with the candidacy of Sheriff Oborevwori, the House Speaker, with PDP2, that’s APC waiting in the wings to ambush him with a legal trap before or after the polls.
“The chances of PDP1 in the coming elections is worsened by the candidacy of the Speaker, Sheriff Oborieworei. PDP1 members have no confidence in their candidate, because the matter is still in court. If you removed all the judgements PDP1 has had, there are other matters on ground. Why he walked free in the first case is because the document he submitted was to his party; he had not submitted to INEC yet; so, it’s a PDP party affair. But the other people who have taken him to court based theirs on documents he submitted to INEC. That case is more lethal. So PDP1 will likely lose in court; that’s what is giving PDP2 (APC) confidence in what it is doing. But PDP2, that is APC, has the federal baggage of poor performance against it at the national and Delta state levels.”
Obibi expressed disgust with the performance of both PDP and APC, declaring that with the way the country has been run aground, “I will choose Okoro Democratic Party against PDP and APC. This is just me taking it to the absurd level. In today’s Nigerian scheme of things, anything other than PDP/APC is fine. Yes, anything other than the two, because Deltans are not impressed any more. APC has not done well at the centre, just as PDP has not done well in Delta state. So upon what basis are they asking the people for votes?”
Obibi was already projecting forward to May 2023 and enthused that the jubilation that would follow Peter Obi winning the federal election will be so massive and natural, such that even those who did not vote for him would have no option than to join in, adding, “Then those who will be happier are those who have been disenfranchised by INEC; they will be so excited.”