Some members of Ovie Omo-Agege’s Campaign Council have blamed his defeat on the Director-General of the council and former minister, Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, and others.
The Delta State All Progressives Congress, (APC) governorship candidate and Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege, was defeated by the Peoples Democratic Party at the March 18, 2023 governorship polls.
A director of the council (name withheld) spoke with SaharaReporters on the development.
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The source categorically argued that Orubebe was behind his principal’s loss in the election where he polled a total of 240,229 votes while his counterpart in the PDP, Oborevwori secured 360,234 total votes.
The director said that “Ovie Omo-Agege could have been able to checkmate the rigging plot against him had the head of his campaign organization shown competence, capacity, and character.
“It’s a fact that Orubebe made Omo-Agege lose the governorship election and I will tell you the roles of Otive Igbuzor and Bosin Ebikeme in the whole game. The emerging facts indicated that lack of administrative capacity and ability and alleged mismanagement of campaign funds by Orubebe, isolated not only the party but also the governorship candidate of the party.
“So, there was no synergy between the party, the campaign council and the governorship candidate. While the PDP was operating a well-oiled election machinery that allowed grooves of party and candidate run smoothly, APC had a situation where the party, council and candidate were on different tectonic plates.
“This was all because of one man’s greed, lack of intelligence, and capacity. Before the start of the campaign, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege had created an elaborate campaign council comprising of various directorates ranging from logistics, contact and mobilization, welfare, media, medical, and so forth and were headed by capable and competent hands.
“But Orubebe nominated deputy directors for the various directorates who were mainly of Ijaw stock and who in connivance with the DG, sidelined the directors and virtually took over operations, reporting directly to the DG.
“At a point, all the directors of Urhobo stock, having been so sidelined, met and were to quit until they reasoned otherwise, seeing the project as theirs and then tolerated the ugly development.
“The DG had ensured that all funds were domiciled in his office and with that advantage, he was able to have full control of funds and finances of the campaign organization.
“His greed came to bare when he was asked to prepare a budget for the flagging off of campaigns, an event which the presidential candidate of the APC, now President-elect, Bola Tinubu, would be physically present at the Warri township stadium, last year.
“Orubebe submitted a budget of half a billion naira. Omo-Agege queried the humongous and unreasonable budget proposal but at last settled at and released a quarter of a billion naira to Orubebe. That may have not gone down well with the DG who saw the prune as a loss to his planned loot.
“By the time Tinubu landed at the Osubi airport for onward movement to the venue of the flag-off, it was virtually empty because party supporters had not been adequately mobilized. Omo-Agege directed the release of other funds to mobilize supporters to the venue. Funds were not released or not sufficiently released by the DG and his kinsman, Ebikeme, an Ijaw who was in charge of contact and mobilization.
“The cut-corner pilfering approach was also put to use when campaign was in progress in Delta South senatorial district particularly across the waterways of Egbema River. Ebikeme engaged the services of boat owners who provided boats that had no headlights and with poor out-board engines, without life jackets resulting to the untimely dead of some party members and supporters at the Egbema.
“Meanwhile, Orubebe campaign council comprising of various directorates ranging from logistics, contact and mobilization, welfare, media, medical and so forth and were headed by capable and competent hands. But Orubebe nominated deputy directors for the various directorates who were mainly of Ijaw stock and who in connivance with the DG, sidelined the directors and virtually took over operations, reporting directly to the DG.
“At a point, all the directors of Urhobo stock, having been so sidelined, met and were to quit until they reasoned otherwise, seeing the project as theirs and then tolerated the ugly development. The DG had ensured that all funds were domiciled in his office and with that advantage, he was able to have full control of funds and finances of the campaign organization.
“His greed came to bare when he was asked to prepare a budget for the flagging off of campaigns, an event which the presidential candidate of the APC, now President-elect, Bola Tinubu, would be physically present at the Warri township stadium, last year. Orubebe submitted a budget of half a billion naira. Omo-Agege queried the humongous and unreasonable budget proposal but at last settled at and released a quarter of a billion naira to Orubebe. That may have not gone down well with the DG who saw the prune as a loss to his planned loot.
“By the time Tinubu landed at the Osubi airport for onward movement to the venue of the flag-off, it was virtually empty because party supporters had not been adequately mobilized. Omo-Agege directed the release of other funds to mobilize supporters to the venue. Funds were not released or not sufficiently released by the DG and his kinsman, Ebikeme, an Ijaw who was in charge of contact and mobilization.
“The cut-corner pilfering approach was also put to use when campaign was in progress in Delta South senatorial district particularly across the waterways of Egbema River. Ebikeme engaged the services of boat owners who provided boats that had no headlights and with poor out-board engines, without life jackets resulting to the untimely dead of some party members and supporters at the Egbema.”
Meanwhile, Orubebe was yet to comment on the matter as of press time.
