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PDP stupefied by losses in South South

By Sunny Ogefere
22 December 2015   |   1:00 am
The Peoples Democratic Party in the South South region of Nigeria may have been forced into a trance following the gale of misfortunes in the various Elections Petition Tribunals handling the cases arising from the last general elections.
Udom

Udom

The Peoples Democratic Party in the South South region of Nigeria may have been forced into a trance following the gale of misfortunes in the various Elections Petition Tribunals handling the cases arising from the last general elections.

The South South region traditionally believed to be the stronghold of PDP appears gradually to be loosing its grip on the region with the recent developments. Already, Edo State, one of the six states that make up the region has been seized from the PDP for about seven years and presently under the rule of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Mum has been the order of the day since the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel was nullified by the Appeal Court in addition to the more than 50% of the elected officers that had their elections nullified in Rivers State

These certainly are not the best of times for the party in the region having lost two governorship mandates out of the four states of Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. The Appeal Court has upturned the victory of PDP in Rivers and Akwa Ibom.

In Delta State, what many never imagined could happen came to pass late in the evening of Saturday when the Appeal Court sitting in Benin City nullified the election of Chief Ighoyota Amori who represented the Delta Central Senatorial district up to that moment and declared Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege of the Labour Party, the winner of the Senatorial election for the district.
No one, not even in the hierarchy of the PDP saw the nullification that has jolted them into a trance, coming.

That Saturday, most of the PDP chieftains and stalwarts as well as Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa were engaged with the his daughter’s wedding ceremonies. Similarly, they were involved in the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu’s thanksgiving ceremonies that weekend.

Most of the PDP chieftains approached for comments on the developments and implications for the party in the state, were too shocked to speak, pleading to be allowed to talk later in the week.
The state chairman of PDP, Chief Edwin Uzor aptly captured the mood when he said it was not a wholesome development, as the party did not have the opportunity even to remedy the situation in this tenure of the Senate. “It is a very bad case, it is weakening … we were not even asked to go for rerun”. He told The Guardian.

However, it was gathered that the series of losses for PDP and the yielding of grounds to other political parties has triggered off nocturnal meetings with the hope of turning around the fortunes of the party for good in the region and the state in particular.

Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, chairman of PDP South South, confirmed this much to The Guardian when he disclosed that the hierarchy of the party has been meeting because of the ugly trends.
“A lot of things happened over the weekend and we are holding series of meetings to re-position the party in the South South … We are strategizing, we are noting what is happening and what our rival party is doing”, he stated in an interview.

He said that the party in the region in conjunction with the national leadership was addressing the issues as it affected the developments in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States.

Meanwhile as the PDP is brooding over their loss, the Labour Party in Delta State is celebrating their landmark victory in Delta Central. The declared winner of the Senatorial election, Omo-Agege believes it was a new vista for the Urhobo populated senatorial district.

He dedicated the victory to his followers saying: “For those who were knocked down, harassed, beaten, tear-gassed and intimidated during the election by those who wanted to impose themselves on us, but never gave up, this victory is yours. You never gave up on me.”

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